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"•Adventures  are  to  the  adventurous" 


BEACONSFIELD. 


THE  ADVENTURE  SERIES. 

Illustrated.     Crown  8vo,  5s. 


Adventures  of  a  Younger  Son.  By  E.  J. 
TRELAWNY.  With,  an  Introduction  by  Ed-ward 
Garnett.  Second  Edition. 


Robert    Drury's    Journal     in    Madagascar. 

Edited,   with  an   Introduction    and  Notes,   by 
Captain  S.  P.  Oliver. 

3- 

Memoirs  of  the  Extraordinary  Military 
Career  of  John  Shipp.  With  an  Introduction 
by  H.  Manners  Chichester. 

4- 

The  Adventures  of  Thomas  Fellow,  of 
Penryn,  Mariner.  Edited,  -with  an  Introduction 
and  Notes,  by  Dr.  Robert  Brown. 

5- 

The  Buccaneers  and  Marooners  of  America. 
Being  aji  Account  of  the  Notorious  Freebooters 
of  the  Spanish  Main.  Edited  by  Howard  Pyle. 

6. 

The  Log  of  a  Jack  Tar ;  or,  The  Life  of  James 
Choyce,  Master  Mariner.  With  O'Brien's  Cap- 
tivity in  France.  Edited,  with  an  Introduction 
and  Notes,  by  V.  Lovetl  Cameron,  R.N. 

7- 

The  Voyages  and  Adventures  of  Ferdinand 
Mendez  Pinto.  With  an  Introduction  by 
Arminius  Vambtry. 


The  Story  of  the  Filibusters.  By  JAMES 
JEFFREY  ROCHE.  To  which  is  added  the  Life 
of  Colonel  David  Crockett. 

9- 

A  Master  Mariner.  Being  the  Life  and  Adven- 
tures of  Captain  Robert  William  Eastwick. 
Edited  by  Herbert  Compton. 


Kolokotrones,  Klepht  and  Warrior.   Edited  by 
Mrs.  Edmonds.    Introduction  by  M.  Gennadius. 

(OTHERS  IN  THE  PRESS.) 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE 
COLONIES,  AND  OTHER 
EXPERIENCES  BY  SEA 
AND  LAND 


NOW    FIRST    PRINTED.      COM- 
PILED  FROM   PRIVATE   LETTERS 


BY   C.   CARLYON  JENKYNS 


ILLUSTRATED 


LONDON:    T.     FISHER    UNWIN, 
PATERNOSTER  SQUARE.    MDCCCXCIL 


MY   FIVE    NEPHEWS, 
HALN,     SYLVESTER,     GILBERT    JENKINS, 

AND 
LIONEL  AND   NELLO   WENDLING, 

I   DEDICATE 

THESE  PAGES  ADAPTED  FEOM  THE  DIAEIES 

OF  THEIR 
FATHER  AND  UNCLE  AND  THEIR  FRIEND. 


C.  C.  J. 


2057784 


PEEFACE. 


HE  following  pages  are  offered  to 
the  public  in  the  belief  that  the 
Colonial  experiences  they  record  are 
of  sufficient  interest  to  justify  their 
transcription  from  a  series  of  private 
letters  written  twenty  years  ago.  It  is  not  claimed 
for  the  book  that  the  adventures  it  contains  are 
specially  remarkable,  or  that  many  men  now 
living  are  not  more  competent  to  speak  of  the 
ups  and  downs  of  a  colonial  life  than  the  three 
writers  of  these  letters  :  it  is  rather  as  presenting 
a  picture  of  the  life  of  young  Englishmen  who 
have  knocked  about  a  little  before  settling  down — 
a  picture  the  intsrest  of  which,  perhaps,  lies  in  its 
being  fairly  typical  of  many  thousands  of  cases — 
that  these  sketches  have  been  put  into  print. 

In  compiling  the  volume,  the  editor  would  add 
that   she   has  kept   as   much   as   possible   to   the 


viii  PREFACE. 

writers'  own  words.  As,  however,  the  latter  have 
not  had  the  opportunity  of  reconsidering  their 
impressions  de  voyage  by  revising  letters  struck  off 
in  more  or  less  haste,  it  is  hoped  that  the  reader 
will  excuse  any  inaccuracies  or  errors  he  may  meet 
with  in  the  narratives. 

CATHEEINE  CAELYON   JENKYNS. 
November,  1891. 


CONTENTS. 


(1)  SHANG-AIED,    OK    BOUND    THE    HORN.      By    A.    C. 

JENKINS  1 

(2)  A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  By  G.  C.  JENKINS  ...    ...  40 

(3)  VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.  By  G.  C. 

JENKINS     ...    ...    ...    ...  91 

(4)  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES — 


(1)  AUSTRALIA       

(2)  NEW  ZEALAND 

(3)  AUSTRALIA  AND  TRISCO 


By  G.  C.  JENKINS  j    117 

and  I  168 

H.  K.  DUNBAR  J   225 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


(1)  SAN  FEANCISCO  (see  page  311)  ...         ...  Frontispiece 

(2)  ARTHUR  CARDEW  JENKINS         ...         ...  To  face  page  40 

(3)  SHANGHAI  ...         ...         ...         ...         ...  ,,          ,,      55 

(4)  GILBERT  CHILCOTT  JENKINS      ...         ...  ,,          ,,    117 

(5)  TAIPARI      ,,          „    150 

(6)  HALN  KILLEGREW  DUNBAR       ...         ...  ,,           „    168 

(7)  RIVER  SCENERY — NEW  ZEALAND         ...  ,',           ,,    195 

(8)  A  MAORI  BELLE „           „    198 

(9)  GUM  TREES          ,  „    239 

(10)  SCENERY— GIPPS  LAND             „           ,,286 


EKKATA. 

Page  53,  line  19,  for  almost  as  many  of  them  read  almost  as  large  a 

proportion  of  them. 

Page  102,  line  17,  for  £3000  read  £1000. 
Page  107,  line  14,  for  one  story  read  a  story  ! 
Page  127,  line  15,  for  Dromanagh  read  Dromana. 
Page  154,  line  4,  for  their  read  there. 
Page  172,  lines  1  and  2,  for  Tristan  Ditcunha  and  Curguelan'ti  Island 

read  Tristan  D'Acunha  and  Kerguelen's  Island. 
Page  177,  line  9,  for  clearly  read  almost. 
Page  179,  line  18,  for  Geelong  read  Queenscliff . 
Page  181,  line  I,  for  Landridge  read  Sandridge. 
Page  189,  &c.,  line  12,  &c.,  for  How-Hows  read  Hau-Haus. 
Page  194,  &c.,  line  22,  &c.,for  Tanronga  read  Tauraga. 
Page  196,  &c.,  line  8,  for  Paheha  read  Pakeha. 
Page  212,  line  20,  for  Farmium  read  Formium. 
Page  217,  line  24,  for  schiser  read  schicer. 
Page  230,  line  34,  for  Sidney  read  Sydney. 
Page  232,  line  11,  for  Daudenmy  read  Dandenong. 
Page  238,  line  9,  for  iriantilopes  read  triantilopes. 
Page  240,  line  5,  &c.,for  carnivorous  read  herbivorous. 
Page  250,  line  13,  for  Dauderong  read  Dandenong. 
Page  258,  line  I,  for  Brinston  Steevens  read  Brunton  Stephens. 
Page  258,  line  22,  for  Arnothoryneus  read  Ornithoryncus. 
Page  261,  line  10,  for  Miomi  read  Miami. 
Page  263,  line  7,  for  Gipp's  read  Gipps. 
Page  270,  line  34,  for  New  South  Wales  read  Australia. 
Page  338,  line  5,  for  Sacramanto  read  Sacramento. 
Page  346,  line  16,  for  come  read  came. 
Page  362,  line  30,  for  nihil  read  nihilo. 


SHANG'AIED;  OR,  BOUND  THE  HOEN. 


N  1873  I  happened  to  be  in 
'Frisco.  How  or  why  does  not 
matter  :  there  I  was,  and  terribly 
hard  up  too.  I  was  barely  sixteen 
at  the  time,  small  and  not  over 
strong,  therefore  of  no  particular  use  to  any  one. 
This  fact  had  been  made  so  painfully  apparent  to 
me,  that,  desperate  and  wounded,  I  resolved  to 
free  myself  and  go  to  sea  as  a  last  resource. 

Now  sailors  are,  or  were,  procured  for  the 
merchant  marine  by  a  modified  system  of  the 
press-gang.  That  is  to  say,  fellows  nicknamed 
"crimps"  are  kept  for  the  purpose  of  following 
men  who  look  like  sailors,  and  offering  them  the 
hospitalities  of  the  house  to  which  they  have  the 
honour  to  belong.  Once  in  their  hands,  he  (the 
sailor)  becomes  simply  a  division  sum.  If  he  is 
a  man  who  drinks,  so  much  the  better ;  he  will 
be  more  easily  divided,  and  only  wake  up  to  his 
fate  to  find  himself  on  an  outward-bound  ship, 
where  growl  and  swear  as  he  might,  he  must 
nolens  volens  remain,  and  generally  ends  in  be- 
coming resigned.  If,  perchance,  he  does  not  drink, 


2  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

so  much  the  worse  for  him  ;  he  will  then  be  dis- 
integrated in  spite  of  his  struggles,  for  the 
"  crimps "  are  very  powerful  men,  gigantic  of 
build  and  liliputian  of  conscience.  Should  the 
unfortunate  victim  dare  to  show  a  desire  to  leave 
their  entrancing  society,  he  will  be  looked  at  with 
reproachful  sorrow,  and  mild  methods  will  first  be 
tried  to  convince  him  of  his  folly  ;  a  romantic  and 
preposterous  bill  of  charges  will  be  thrust  at  him  : 
"  Can  he  pay  that  ?  Does  he  imagine  that  they 
are  going  to  keep  him  like  a  prince  for  nothing  ? 
Does  he  want  to  talk  to  a  policeman  about  it?  " 
&c.,  &c.  The  other  methods  do  not  involve  so 
much  arithmetic ;  a  charge  of  a  different  kind  is 
made,  in  a  nice  lonely  room,  with  overpowering 
numbers  on  the  wrong  side,  and  the  victim 
emerges,  breathless,  bruised  and  bleeding,  but — 
convinced.  The  result  is  precisely  the  same  in 
either  case. 

Now  all  these  facts  were  perfectly  well  known 
to  me  ;  still  I  fancied  I  could  work  it  a  little 
better  than  an  ordinary  common  sailor.  So  having 
fully  made  up  my  mind  to  go  to  sea,  I  commenced 
operations  at  once.  Proceeding  to  the  sailors' 
quarter,  I  soon  detected  a  "  crimp,"  standing  in 
front  of  his  house,  apparently  admiring  the  land- 
scape. I  sauntered  slowly  by  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  street,  perfectly  aware  that  he  was  in  reality 
watching  me.  Before  I  had  gone  quite  fifty  yards, 
I  heard  a  step  behind  me,  and  the  same  womanish 
instinct  that  had  told  me  he  was  watching  me  as 


SHANG'AIED;  OB,  ROUND  THE  HORN.       8 

I  passed,  now  told  me  he  was  following.  I  kept 
on  my  way  slowly  and  without  looking  back. 

"  Sa-ay,  I  want  to  speak  to  you  a  minit," 
sounded  in  a  would-be  gentle  voice  behind  me. 

"  With  me  ?  "  I  asked,  turning  and  facing  the 
man,  with  a  look  of  guileless  surprise  on  my  face. 

"  Yes,  come  right  away  and  have  a  drink.  I 
have  seen  you  before  somewhere.  Were  you  ever 
in  Liverpool?  " 

"  Yes,"  came  unhesitatingly  from  my  lips. 

"  Do  you  remember,"  continued  my  disinterested 
friend,  "  the  Constellation  Hall  in  Whitechapel  ?  " 

"  Bather,"  I  replied;  "  it  must  have  been  there 
you  saw  me." 

Needless  to  say  I  had  never  been  in  either,  but 
such  a  man  must  be  fought  with  his  own  weapons. 
My  shady  companion  scratched  his  head  and 
stared  at  me,  then  led  the  way  into  a  public-house 
and  called  for  drinks.  While  waiting  for  them,  he 
studied  me  with  pleased  yet  puzzled  scrutiny.  He 
was  a  professional  liar,  and  when  there  was  no 
business  reason  for  it,  lied  instinctively,  and  for 
the  benefit  of  that  practice  which  makes  perfect. 
He  knew  that  he  had  lied,  but  his  statement  had 
been  so  promptly  endorsed,  that  he  commenced  to 
have  doubts  as  to  whether  he  had  not  committed 
an  error,  and  inadvertently  spoken  the  truth ;  in 
short,  whether  he  had  not  really  seen  me  before. 

The  drinks  appeared,  and  we  clinked  glasses  ;  he 
took  out  a  short  black  pipe,  carefully  filled  it,  and 
began  to  smoke.  I  gazed  with  apparent  uncon- 


4  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

sciousness  at  the  wreaths  of  smoke,  while  my 
respectable  friend  continued  to  take  my  measure. 
When  I  considered  he  had  had  time  enough  for 
the  survey,  I  looked  at  him  and  found  his  eyes 
riveted  on  me. 

"  Wouldn't  you  like  to  be  in  Liverpool  again  ?  " 
asked  the  crafty  wolf. 

"  Shouldn't  mind,"  answered  the  innocent 
lamb. 

u  I  know  a  ship — you're  a  Britisher,  ain't  you  ?  " 

I  nodded. 

"  Wall,  this  is  a  Britisher  too.  The  skipper  has 
got  his  wife  aboard,  and  coming  out  a  kid  was 
born,  and  all  hands  were  drunk  for  three  weeks. 
Now  that's  the  sort  of  d ship  you  want." 

"  Yes,  she  would  do  right  enough,"  I  assented. 

"  Ever  been  to  sea  before  ?  " 

"  Only  as  a  passenger." 

"  Wall,  the  skipper  wants  a  boy  to  help  the 
steward  in  the  cabin,  and  I  guess  you'll  do  as  well 
as  another.  You  won't  have  to  go  aloft,  and  if 

you  behave  yourself  you  can  have  a  d good 

time." 

Had  my  distinguished  friend  made  me  this  pro- 
position one  short  year  ago,  I  believe  I  should 
have  called  for  the  police  ;  but  raw  wheat  and  tar- 
paulin beds  had  worked  their  demoralizing  effect 
upon  me,  and  I  accepted  this  enchanting  offer  with 
alacrity. 

"  Let  us  go  and  see  what  the  '  boss  '  says,"  sug- 
gested the  "  crimp,"  and  he  led  the  way  out  of  the 


SHANG'AIED;  OB,  BOUND  THE  HOBtf.  5 

inn  where  we  had  been  drinking,  to  another  of  the 
same  calibre,  where  my  future  captain  had  taken 
up  his  abode. 

"  Captain  Billings  in  ?  "  asked  my  companion 
of  a  dirty-looking  waiter  who  stood  at  the  door 
"  contemplating  "  the  passers-by. 

"  Guess,"  was  the  concise  reply,  and  I  followed 
the  "  crimp "  into  the  tap-room,  where  several 
men,  all  of  seafaring  appearance,  were  smoking 
and  drinking.  Picking  out  a  burly  and  somewhat 
flashy-looking  Yankee,  Watts,  as  I  afterwards 
found  out  the  "  crimp's  "  name  to  be,  spoke  to 
him  in  a  low  voice,  evidently  about  me,  as  the 
man  turned,  and  stared  at  me  fixedly  and  keenly, 
as  though  to  discover  whether  I  was  a  bond-fide 
11  tenderer  "  or  not.  The  look  of  innocent  and 
wide-eyed  curiosity  that  met  his  glance  apparently 
satisfied  him.  He  asked  me  my  name  and  age,  and 
merely  said,  "  Wall,  I  guess  you  had  better  stop 
here  till  I  can  get  you  a  berth,  and  I'll  take  it  out 
of  your  advance  note." 

This  being  settled,  I  was  permitted  to  have  the 
run  of  the  "bar  "  and,  what  pleased  me  more,  of 
the  table.  The  meals  were  good,  and  both  Jack- 
son, the  boarding-house  keeper,  and  Watts,  the 
crimp,  were  kind,  if  scoundrelly.  I  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  several  sailors,  and  pumped  them, 
not  always  with  satisfactory  results.  As  a  general 
rule,  they  were  grumpy.  Some  felt  injured  at 
being  addressed  by  a  mere  boy  and  a  gentleman ; 
for  my  poverty  and  bad  clothing  could  not  hide  that 


e  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

fact  from  voice  and  manners,  and  they  resented  it. 
According  to  their  code,  if  a  man  is  a  gentleman 
let  him  keep  with  gentlemen,  and  not  come 
amongst  them  taking  the  bread  from  their  mouths, 
and  treating  them  with  calm  condescension.  I 
was  quite  unconscious  of  any  such  manner,  which 
would  have  been  very  foolish  and  unsuitable  on  my 
part,  and  in  my  position,  but  they  evidently  con- 
sidered me  as  not  one  of  themselves,  and  took 
care  to  let  me  know  it  with  a  directness  of  state- 
ment that  I  confess  somewhat  staggered  me.  But 
more  of  this  further  on. 

The  days  wore  away,  and  I  found  some  really 
pleasant  kindly  acquaintances  in  men,  afterwards 
pointed  out  to  me  as  some  of  the  worst  characters 
in  the  city.  I  can  only  say  they  never  attempted 
to  lead  me  wrong,  and  even  their  language  was  not 
so  bad  as  I  have  often  heard  since  from  so-called 
"  gentlemen." 

"  But  everything  comes  to  him  who  knows  how 
to  wait,"  as  the  French  proverb  says,  and  one 
morning  Watts,  the  crimp,  came  to  see  me,  and 
told  me  that  my  ship  was  going  to  be  manned 
that  day,  and  that  I  must  go,  in  company  with  a 
select  band  of  eminent  mariners,  and  affix  my 
name  to  the  ship's  articles.  He  furthermore  in- 
formed me  that  I  would  have  to  sign  myself  as 
"  ordinary  seaman." 

I  ironically  inquired  if  "  extraordinary  "  seaman 
would  not  be  more  to  the  point,  but  he  ignored  my 
feeble  attempt  at  a  joke  and  said  severely,  "  You'll 


SHANG'AIED;  OR,  BOUND  THE  HORN.       7 

hev  to  sign  as  0.  S.  'cause  that's  the  lowest  thing 
there  is,  and  as  yer  are  to  be  in  the  cabin  you  kin 
say  that  yer've  been  to  sea  afore.  The  skipper 
will  never  know  no  better,  'cause  yer  wont  'ave  to 
go  aloft,  and  so  yer've  no  call  to  go  and  make  a 
show  of  yerself.  Now  go  right  along  to  the 
British  Counsel  (Consul),  and  do  as  I've  told 
yer." 

I  went  to  the  English  Consulate,  and  found  my 
future  mates  there  before  me,  a  seedy,  motley 
group ;  my  heart  sank  as  I  looked  from  one  surly 
sodden  face  to  another.  The  Consul,  a  common- 
place rather  rough-looking  man,  was  evidently  in 
great  haste  to  get  away,  and  read  out  the  agree- 
ment with  such  frightful  rapidity  that  the  only 
distinguishable  words  were,  "no  grog  allowed." 
This  sentence  was  received  with  muttered  impre- 
cations. The  reading  ended,  we  all  drew  two 
months'  advance  money  (we  got  the  order,  not  the 
money),  Her  Majesty's  Consul  being  good  enough 

to  say,  "  A  lot  of  d d  fools  you  are  to  draw  your 

money  now,  it  will  only  go  to  the  boarding-house 
keepers  ;  why  don't  you  ship  on  your  own  hooks  ?  " 
No  one  replied ;  what  was  the  good  ?  When  I 
went  up  for  my  paper  the  Consul  eyed  me  sharply, 
and  muttered,  "  Another  gentleman  ;  poor  devil ! 
he's  going  to  the  devil  young.  Got  no  parents  or 
home,  eh  ?  " 

"  No,"  I  answered,  shortly,  and  hastily  followed 
the  others  out  of  the  room,  where  we  were  greeted 
by  the  lodging-house  keepers  waiting  outside,  with 


8  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

open  arms.  The  advance  notes  were  delivered  up, 
and  my  future  companions  went  to  drown  care  in 
drink.  Heart-sick  and  weary,  I  wandered  up  and 
down  the  quays  wondering  if  it  were  not  better  to 
make  a  hole  in  the  water  and  have  done  once  for 
all  with  this  wretched  life.  What  was  the  good  of 
toiling  at  unsuitable  work  among  a  lot  of  uncon- 
genial men,  simply  to  get  bread  to  keep  alive  my 
useless  and  wretched  self  ?  In  the  mood  I  was  in 
then,  I  think  a  very  few  minutes  more  of  my  own 
society  would  have  solved  the  question,  and  this 
story  would  never  have  been  written ;  but  Watts 
had  followed  me,  forced  me  back  with  him,  made 
me  eat  and  drink,  and  sent  me  to  bed  early.  The 
following  morning  he  fitted  me  out  from  his  own 
stores,  at  liberal  terms  (to  himself),  gave  me  five 
dollars  and  his  blessing,  and  sent  me  on  board 
accompanied  by  another  "crimp" — to  help  me 
carry  my  bundle  was  the  pretence,  to  prevent 
my  running  away,  was  the  reality. 

On  the  quay  I  found  all  the  crew  mustered ;  they 
were  more  or  less  drunk,  most  of  them  too  stupefied 
to  know  or  care  where  they  were  going.  I  noticed 
one  sailor,. seated  in  the  boat  by  my  side;  he  was  a 
sickly-looking  fellow,  less  drunk  than  the  others, 
and  was  coatless.  As  it  was  bitterly  cold,  I  asked 
him  why  he  didn't  put  his  coat  on.  He  answered 
me,  with  an  oath,  that  the  boarding-house  keeper 
had  taken  his  clothes  to  pay  expenses ;  he  had 
nothing  but  what  was  on  him.  The  poor  wretch 
was  going  round  the  Horn  in  winter  time  in  his 


SHANGHAIED;  OR,  ROUND  THE  HORN.       9 

shirt-sleeves.  But  we  were  now  drawing  close 
to  the  ship,  and  all  the  sympathy  I  had  in  me  was 
required  for  myself,  for  my  spirits  sank  lower  and 
lower.  She  was  pointed  out  to  me,  an  iron  barque 
of  outlandish  build,  very  deep  in  the  water  (no 
Plimsoll's  mark  just  then),  very  cheerless  looking 
and  dirty.  As  I  gazed  around  me,  and  saw  the 
gang  of  marine  blackguards  with  whom  I  was  to 
be  shut  up  for  the  next  six  months  at  least,  and 
reflected  that  I  did  not  know  how  to  do  any  work, 
and  consequently  they  would  have  to  do  it  and 
might  not  feel  grateful  towards  me,  I  wished 
myself  ashore  with  all  the  heart  I  had  left  in 
me. 

Arrived  at  the  ship,  the  whole  disorderly  crew 
scrambled  up  the  side,  and,  saying  farewell  to  the 
disinterested  "crimps,"  staggered  off  to  the  fore- 
castle; and  I  followed  them,  not  knowing  what 
else  to  do.  The  foc'sle,  as  the  shell-backs  pro- 
nounce it,  was  a  house  on  deck  about  twelve  feet 
square,  and  held  twenty-four  bunks,  their  owners 
and  chests.  When  I  entered  the  door,  it  was 
fairly  reeking  with  the  fumes  of  bad  whiskey, 
cloudy  with  tobacco-smoke,  and  hell-like  with 
blasphemy. 

"  Oh,  here's  the  bloated  swell! "  was  the  greeting 
with  which  I  was  saluted.  "  'Ave  a  swig  ?  "  "  Wet 
yer  whistle  ?  "  "  Ain't  yer  got  a  cigar,  Bill  ?  baccy 
ain't  good  enough  for  the  gent ! " 

I  turned  to  fly,  but  a  burly  half-drunken  fellow 
barred  the  way  with  a  rough  "  None  of  that,  you 


10  BARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

white-livered  cur.  'Ave  yer  ever  been  to  sea 
before?" 

"  Yes,"  I  answered,  facing  the  lot  of  them,  and 
looking  braver  than  I  felt. 

"  The  gent  has  been  to  sea  before,"  said  Muggins, 
the  man  who  had  barred  my  way,  looking  at  the 
others  with  a  drunken  leer. 

"As  skipper,  of  course,"  cried  another,  which 
sally  was  received  with  a  roar  of  laughter. 

"  The  darned  boy  is  going  in  the  cabin, 
though,"  remarked  a  surly  old  fellow  who  had 
not  yet  spoken. 

This  had  some  slight  beneficial  effect  as  far  as 
it  went. 

"  Wall,  yer  can  just  remember  us  poor  devils 
when  you  are  there,"  said  a  far-seeing  seaman 
of  pot-hunting  proclivities. 

I  answered  I  would  do  what  I  could,  but  further 
conversation  was  cut  short  by  an  authoritative 
voice  at  the  forecastle  door,  "  Some  of  you  men 
come  out  on  deck." 

Those  who  had  not  taken  the  precaution  to  get 
dead  drunk  were  obliged  to  obey,  and  I  was  swept 
along  with  the  rest.  It  was  the  second  mate  who 
had  called,  a  tall  black-bearded  man,  from  Bristol, 
with  nothing  remarkably  good  or  bad  about  him. 
Having  disposed  of  the  more  important  members 
under  him,  he  turned  his  attention  to  me,  looking 
down  at  me  with  open  contempt. 

"  What's  your  name  ?  " 

"Brown,"  I  answered,  after  a  moment's  hesita- 


SHANGHAIED;  OR,  BOUND  THE  HORN.      11 

tion,  for  I  wasn't  perfectly  sure  what  name  I  had 
given  at  the  Consulate — certain  only  of  one  thing, 
that  I  had  not  given  my  own. 

"  That's  a  lie,"  said  the  second  mate  sharply, 
"but  it  doesn't  matter.  Ever  been  to  sea  before?" 

"Yes." 

"Yes,  what.  Don't  you  know  how  to  speak  to  a 

gentleman?  Keep  your  d mouth  still;  I'll 

teach  you  to  sneer  at  your  superior  officer." 

How  small  a  thing  sometimes  leads  to  great 
results ;  my  foolish  boyish  action  of  curling  my 
lip  at  the  mate's  calling  himself  a  gentleman,  and 
omitting  the  customary  "sir"  due  to  a  superior, 
made  that  man  my  enemy ;  many  an  ill-turn  he 
served  me,  all  my  after  deference  being  powerless  to 
take  away  the  first  impression  my  unlucky  sneer 
had  made  upon  him. 

"Ever  been  to  sea  before?"  he  asked  again, 
sharply. 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Oh,  "you  have,  have  you?  Well,  I'll  see  what 
a  smart  seaman  you  are,"  he  answered,  with  a 
malicious  grin.  "  Just  take  that  grease-pot,  and 
go  and  sign  your  name  on  that  fore-top-gallant- 
mast." 

Had  I  been  told  to  go  in  a  tiger's  cage,  and  sand- 
paper the  tiger's  claws,  I  should  not  have  been 
more  scared.  I  looked  around  me  helplessly, 
desperately,  thinking  whether  I  wouldn't  jump 
overboard.  My  tyrant  watched  me  calmly. 

"  You  know  how  to  do  it,  of  course  ?  " 


12  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

"With  a  wad,  or  piece  of  canvas  or  something," 
I  stammered  almost  unconsciously,  with  my  eyes 
fixed  on  the  slender  swaying  mast,  that  seemed 
to  my  fevered  fancy  to  lose  itself  in  the  sky. 

"  Then  you  had  better  take  a  wad,  or  piece  of 
canvas  or  something,  and  the  grease-pot,  and  be 
off,"  said  the  mate,  pointing  to  a  heavy  dirty  tin 
filled  with  fat. 

I  went  silently  towards  it,  when  the  mate  said 
amiably,  "You'd  better  take  off  that  good  coat 
before  you  go  up ;  our  sailors  usually  do  so,  as 
the  grease  is  apt  to  drop  about  when  the  mast 
sways." 

As  if  it  mattered  to  me,  who  expected  to  be 
dashed  to  pieces  in  ten  minutes'  time,  whether  I 
spoilt  a  coat  over  it  or  not ! 

However,  I  went  obediently  into  the  forecastle, 
took  off  my  coat,  and  carefully  folded  it  up.  One 
of  the  men  raised  his  head  and  asked  sleepily  what 
work  I  had  been  set  to. 

"  To  grease  down  the  fore-top-gallant-mast,"  I 
said,  adding,  with  bitter  calmness.  "  It  would  be 
a  pity  to  spoil  a  nice  coat  over  it." 

The  man  stared  at  me  a  moment;  then  his 
head  dropped  on  his  arms  with  a  snore,  he  was 
asleep.  No  one  else  even  looked  up,  and  with  a 
feeling  of  quiet  desperation  I  went  out  alone  to 
meet  my  fate. 

The  second  mate  was  where  I  had  left  him. 
He  glanced  at  me  curiously  as  I  silently  took  up 
the  grease-pot  and  moved  towards  the  mast. 


SHANG'AIED;  OR,  ROUND  THE  HORN.      13 

"If  you  are  afraid,  young  shaver,  say  so,"  he 
remarked. 

I  looked  him  steadily  in  the  face  as  I  answered, 
"You  had  better  move  from  here,  sir;  I  might 
splash  you  with  my  brains  if  I  fell,  and  it  would 
be  a  pity  to  spoil  your  nice  coat." 

"Go  to  the  devil!"  he  cried,  furiously,  and  in 
another  minute  I  was  on  the  rigging,  with  the 
heavy  grease-pot  dangling  to  my  wrist. 

"Don't  come  down  until  you  have  put  some 
grease  above  the  sheave  hole  in  the  royal-mast," 
shouted  the  mate. 

The  "coatless"  seaman,  who  passed  at  that 
moment,  whispered  hastily :  "  Keep  yer  knees  close 
to  the  mast,  and  yer  eyes  on  the  top.  'Taint  as 
bad  as  it  looks." 

It  certainly  looked  very  bad,  nay,  to  my  un- 
accustomed eyes,  an  impossible  feat  that  I  should 
ever  reach  the  top  of  that  swaying  mast,  that  stood 
a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  deck. 

My  head  swam,  my  heart  turned  sick  within  me ; 
for  a  horrible  moment  I  felt  as  though  I  should 
faint.  A  sneering  laugh  from  Mr.  Mason  brought 
the  hot  blood  to  my  cheeks,  and  courage  to  my 
shaking  nerves.  Pulling  myself  together,  I  set 
my  teeth  firmly  and  commenced  my  perilous 
journey,  sustained  by  the  knowledge  that  the 
second  mate  was  watching  me,  hoping  to  see  me 
fall,  and  I  felt  a  grim  determination  not  to  give 
him  that  pleasure  if  I  could  help  it. 

I   got   on  very  well   until   I  reached  the    cat- 


14  EAED  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

harping,  where  I  was  delayed  a  little,  some  of  the 
grease  having  slid  down  my  sleeve.  Getting  out 
the  cold  slimy  stuff  as  best  I  could,  I  screwed  up 
my  courage  another  peg  and  proceeded  on  my 
journey,  passed  the  topmast  rigging,  and  in  due 
course  arrived  at  the  cross-trees. 

Two-thirds  of  the  journey  was  accomplished, 
but  the  other  third !  I  looked  up — there  was  no 
Jacob's  ladder  to  step  on,  as  there  is  in  decent 
ships  ;  the  wind  was  howling  and  shrieking  through 
the  rigging,  and  seemed  to  rejoice  at  my  danger 
and  scream  with  joy  at  my  peril ;  and  far  ahead 
the  royal  pole  loomed  up  gaunt,  naked,  and 
apparently  as  unapproachable  as  the  North  Pole 
itself.  Shuddering,  I  turned  my  eyes  away  and 
foolishly  looked  down:  the  ship  appeared  like  a 
little  boat,  and  the  men  mere  specks,  only  the 
second  mate  seemed,  to  my  disordered  brain,  to 
have  grown  in  size  until  he  reached  half-way  up 
to  me,  and  the  yelling  wind  seemed  but  the  echo 
of  his  sneering  laugh.  I  was  completely  de- 
moralized, my  knees  knocked  together.  With  a 
groan  I  folded  my  arms  across  my  breast,  when  I 
heard  the  rustling  of  paper.  I  put  my  hand  inside 
my  shirt,  pulled  out  the  little  packet  that  had 
never  left  me  since  my  sister  had  put  it  there  two 
years  ago,  and  drew  out  of  the  oilskin  bag  a 
small  engraving  of  the  "Ecce  Homo."  I  gazed 
at  the  pictured  image  of  the  "  Man  of  Sorrows," 
and  as  I  gazed  my  fears  left  me.  Fastening  it  up 
carefully  again,  I  turned  resolutely  to  the  rigging 


SHANG'AIED;  OB,  BOUND  THE  HOBN.  15 

and  commenced  the  last  and  worst  part  of  my* 
task.  It  was  terrible  work ;  my  greasy  hands  had 
no  power  to  hold  the  pole,  and  I  slipped  again  and 
again.  But  to  make  a  long  story  short,  I  finally 
reached  the  royal-yard  and  knelt  on  it.  I  had  not 
much  higher  to  go,  but  that  short  bit  was  without 
aid  of  any  kind,  and  I  was  rocking  to  and  fro  with 
sickening  jerks.  Remembering  the  "  coatless " 
man's  advice,  I  pressed  my  knees  tightly  to  the 
pole,  and  taking  as  firm  a  grip  as  my  oily  hands 
would  allow,  reached  the  top.  Without  staying 
a  moment,  I  hastily  dabbed  on  a  handful  of  grease 
and  slid  down  to  the  royal-yard  again,  and  thence 
to  the  cross-trees ;  there  I  could  breathe  more 
freely.  My  fright  was  passing  away,  when  the  voice 
of  the  second  mate  came  up  to  me  :  "  Fore-royal, 
there  " — they  always  hail  the  part  of  the  vessel  you 
are  on,  never  by  your  name — "  I  don't  want  you  to 
varnish  the  d mast ;  come  down." 

I  joyfully  prepared  to  obey,  and  with  a  lightened 
heart  began  my  downward  descent  with  a  confident, 
even  comfortable,  feeling.  About  half-way  down, 
a  sailor  called  Fitzgerald  passed  me  on  his  way 
up  with  a  marling-spike  and  some  spun  yarn ;  he 
looked  at  me  and  said,  with  a  surly  nod,  "  Thought 
yer'd  'ave  came  down  head  first,  so  did  Mr.  Mason. 
Better  luck  next  time." 

I  didn't  answer  this  Christian-like  wish,  and  in 
a  few  minutes  more  was  safely  standing  on  deck. 
The  mate  received  me  with  a  jeer,  but  I  heard 
afterwards  that  he  was  in  no  small  anxiety  until 


16  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

I  was  down,  for  had  an  accident  happened,  the 
blame  would  fall  upon  him,  for  sending  a  boy  into 
such  danger.  He  now  gave  me  some  odd  jobs  to 
do  on  deck,  and  went  away  to  his  own  part  of  the 
ship. 

At  six  o'clock  we  knocked  off  work,  and  the  cry 
of  "  Tea-oh  !  "  resounded  from  the  galley.  When 
I  got  there,  I  found  it  was  my  privilege  to  fetch 
the  biscuit,  beef,  &c.,  from  the  galley  as  required 
by  the  men  of  my  watch  ;  I  also  had  the  advantage 
of  washing  their  plates  and  pannikins,  trimming 
the  slush  lamp,  and  sweeping  the  foc'sle  floor  after 
meals.  This  made  me  handy  and  smart,  I  was 
told.  It  was  another  portion  of  my  duties,  when 
my  watch  was  on  deck  at  night,  to  pass  the  word 
from  the  officer  of  the  watch  to  the  watch  itself; 
to  keep  always  awake,  and  to  be  ready  and  grate- 
ful to  keep  the  men's  look-outs  for  them,  to  prepare 
the  sand-glass,  to  heave  the  log  every  two  hours, 
and  above  all  to  be  vigilant  with  the  clock  and 
strike  eight  bells  with  astronomical  punctuality. 
This  made  me  alert  and  watchful.  Even  when 
sound  asleep  on  the  deck,  or  in  any  hole  I 
could  find  to  rest  in,  I  heard  the  mate's  voice 
when  he  called,  and  awoke  sufficiently  to  repeat 
his  orders  without  blundering  as  soon  as  he  had 
finished  giving  them.  Incidentally,  I  learnt  that 
a  boy  must  never  speak  until  spoken  to,  nor  must 
he  help  himself  to  anything  to  eat  or  drink  until 
everybody  else  has  been  served ;  he  must  also  be 
tolerant  when  kicked  or  struck,  and  irresponsive 


SHAN&A1ED;  OB,  ROUND  THE  HORN.       17 

when  cursed  or  insulted.  By  strict  attention  to 
these  precepts  I  became  meek  and  submissive  out- 
wardly, but  the  iron  entered  into  my  soul. 

To  return  to  my  first  night  on  board.  It  was 
indeed  a  cheerless  one.  Some  of  the  men  were 
drunk,  and  were  violent  or  affectionate  according 
to  their  habit  when  in  their  cups,  some  half-drunk 
and  very  sulky,  while  all  the  old  hands  were  nasty 
and  exclusive  because  they  had  no  chance  of 
getting  drunk.  Outside,  the  night  was  cold,  windy, 
and  damp  ;  inside,  these  uncongenial  companions. 
Under  these  dispiriting  circumstances,  I  thought 
that  bed  was  the  best  place,  so  wrapping  myself  in 
the  quilt — by  no  means  too  clean — that  constituted 
the  bed,  I  stretched  myself  out  in  a  comer  and 
prepared  to  pass  the  night  as  best  I  could.  I  had 
thought  that  at  least  I  should  be  left  in  peace 
during  the  hours  of  darkness,  but  I  was  quickly 
undeceived.  Voices  were  heard  outside  the  fore- 
castle, and  some  one  indignantly  demanded, 
"Where's  that  confounded  boy?"  This  swelled 
instantly  to  a  chorus,  "  Boy,  get  out  of  that  and 
go  on  deck."  I  crawled  forth  from  my  corner,  and 
was  met  outside  by  a  deputation  headed  by  the 
second  mate,  who  landed  me  clear  of  the  door  by 
my  coat  collar,  and  holding  me  at  arm's  length, 
asked  furiously,  "  Why  the  devil  didn't  you  stop 
on  deck  ?  Who  the  devil  gave  you  leave  to  turn 
in?" 

Determined  to  keep  my  temper,  I  answered 
quietly,  "  I  did  not  know  I  was  to  stay  on  deck,  sir." 


18  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

11  Didn't  know  you  had  to  stay  on  deck,"  cried 
Mr.  Mason.  "  Why,  the  lad  must  be  mad,  or  a 
fool,"  he  cried,  looking  round  on  the  grinning  sea- 
men, who  were  much  enjoying  this  entertainment, 
to  judge  by  their  faces.  Then  turning  to  me  again, 
he  asked  with  a  sneer,  "And  who  do  you  suppose 
keeps  the  watch — Providence  ?  " 

As  I  made  no  answer,  he  pushed  me  before  him 
to  the  forecastle-head,  and  ordering  me  to  keep  a 
sharp  look-out  for  lights,  and  watch  that  the 
Potty  didn't  drag  her  anchors,  left  me. 

It  is  a  little  strange  that  I  had  never  given  the 
watch  business  a  thought,  for  having  been  at  sea 
before,  even  though  only  as  a  passenger,  I  knew 
quite  well  that  the  ship  was  not  delivered  up  to 
"  Providence  "  every  night ;  but  I  did  not  know, 
never  having  been  in  one  before,  that  on  board 
these  small  merchant  vessels  this  duty  often  fell 
upon  the  cabin  boy. 

I  stood  shivering  at  the  forecastle-head,  for  it 
was  bitterly  cold,  and  I  was  worn-out  with  fatigue 
and  sorrow.  But  I  never  even  closed  my  eyes  for 
a  moment,  being  far  too  scared  to  think  of  drowsing. 
In  two  hours,  which  had  seemed  to  me  like  two 
nights,  I  was  relieved  and  ordered  to  bed.  Going 
into  the  forecastle,  I  found  all  quiet  and  every  one 
asleep  but  one  man,  who  swore  at  me  fiercely  for 
daring  to  come  in,  and  ordered  me  to  trim  the 
lamp  before  I  lay  down.  I  did  so,  then  looked 
around  for  my  tattered  quilt,  but  observing  that 
my  swearing  friend  had  taken  it,  curled  myself  up 


;  OR,  ROUNb  THE  HOKN.  10 

in  a  comer  and  fell  asleep,  with  the  sound  of  the 
howling  wind  in  my  ears,  and  the  lapping  of  the 
water  against  the  sides  of  the  vessel.  But  even  in 
my  sleep  I  was  pursued  by  the  insults  and  abuse 
that  had  been  heaped  upon  me,  and  again  and 
again  seemed  to  be  climbing  up  that  swaying  mast, 
ever  striving,  and  never  attaining,  to  reach  a  place 
of  safety. 

At  dawn  the  next  day  I  was  awakened  from  my 
restless  slumbers  by  a  hideous  uproar,  and  opening 
my  eyes,  beheld  the  last  look-out  man  standing  in 
the  midst  of  the  forecastle,  shouting  through  his 
hollowed  hands  the  following  summons  :  "Watch 
ahoy  !  Oh  ye  sleepers,  eight  bells  below  there  !  all 
hands  on  deck!  "  the  last  words  being  delivered 
in  a  peculiarly  strident  yell  that  sent  a  cold  shiver 
right  through  me.  I  staggered  to  my  feet,  and 
looked  around  for  some  basin  in  which  I  might 
wash  at  least  my  face  and  hands. 

"  What  are  yer  turning  yer  eyes  inside  out  for  ?  " 
asked  Fitzgerald. 

"  A  basin  to  wash  in,"  I  replied. 

A  roar  of  laughter  greeted  my  words,  and  a 
volley  of  witticisms,  more  or  less  filthy,  were 
showered  upon  ine.  I  moved  to  leave  the  cabin, 
where  a  grim,  weather-beaten  looking  man  said,  not 
unkindly,  "Don't  notice  their  blarney,  my  son,  but 
go  ahead  and  see  if  there's  a  southerly  wind  in  the 
bread  barge." 

I  opened  my  eyes  in  astonishment  at  this  mystic 
order.  Seeing  I  did  not  understand  a  word,  he 


20  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

translated  it  into  plain  English  as  follows  :  "  Go 
and  see  if  there's  any  biscuit  in  that  box,  and  if 
not,  go  aft  to  the  steward  and  get  some." 

There  was  none,  so  I  departed  on  my  errand, 
one  man  calling  after  me,  "Don't  stay  to  wash 
your  'ands  on  the  way,  we  ain't  particlar." 

I  found  the  steward  in  his  cabin ;  he  gave  me  a 
basket  of  biscuits,  with  which  I  returned  to  the 
forecastle.  There  I  found  the  whole  crew  dressed, 
seated  on  their  chests,  awaiting  my  arrival.  My 
appearance  created  a  general  move  to  the  centre, 
where  each  man  grasped  a  biscuit,  and  retired  with 
it  to  his  lair ;  inquiries  were  made  about  beef  and 
pork,  but  the  locker  having  been  searchingly  in- 
vestigated, yielded  no  results,  so i they  had  to  con- 
tent themselves  with  more  biscuit  and  more 
growls. 

Shortly  after,  a  tin  of  hot  coffee  was  served  to 
each,  and  all  hands  were  then  summoned  on  deck. 

There  we  were  all  set  to  work,  some  to  heave  up 
the  anchor,  some  to  loose  the  sails.  I  was  sent  up 
to  the  main-top-sail-yard,  and  helped  to  cast  off  the 
gaskets  that  held  it  ;  this  being  accomplished 
without  accident,  we  descended  and  were  set  to 
the  (to  me)  far  more  agreeable  duty  of  hauling  on 
the  braces.  By  this  time  a  tug  had  us  in  tow,  and 
we  were  fast  nearing  the  heads;  the  sea  was 
choppy,  and  we  commenced  to  pitch  and  toss  in 
fine  style.  Soon  the  tug  came  along  and  took  the 
pilot  off.  How  I  wished  I  was  a  pilot,  or  a  deck 
hand,  or  any  one  that  would  be  taken  ashore  ;  but  it 


SHANGHAIED;  OR,  BOUND  THE  HORN.  21 

was  useless  giving  way  to  any  such  desires,  and 
my  time  was  too  fully  occupied  to  spare  many 
minutes  in  repining.  Soon  we  were  dashing  along 
with  every  stitch  set,  and  the  wind  in  our  favour. 
Towards  evening  the  men  were  mustered  to  be 
picked  into  watches.  There  are  two  watches,  the 
port  and  starboard.  The  port  is  generally  the 
crack  watch,  and  is  commanded  by  the  first  mate  ; 
while  the  starboard  is  commanded  by  the  captain 
and  second  mate,  but  as  the  captain  usually 
sleeps  in  all  night,  his  command  is  merely  an  ex- 
officio  one. 

The  chief  mate  picked  me  out  for  his  watch, 
much  to  my  pleasure,  though  I  fear  to  his  dis- 
appointment, for  when  he  found  I  could  not  steer, 
and  was  really  of  no  particular  use  to  him,  he 
demanded  indignantly  of  the  sky  "  why  such 
things  were  sent  to  sea  to  torment  him."  He  grew 
more  reconciled  when  it  was  discovered  that  the 
"ordinary  seaman"  in  the  other  watch  was  a 
soldier,  and  hopelessly  useless. 

The  other  "fraud's"  name  was  Rogers.  He 
had  deserted  from  the  American  army,  and  been 
taken  in  hand  by  the  benevolent  boarding-house 
keepers,  with  an  eye  to  his  advance.  They  had 
been  exceedingly  liberal  to  him,  and  had  shipped 
him  as  full-fledged  "  able  seaman."  Before  the 
dazzling  lustre  of  this  swindle,  mine  became  a 
shadow  into  which  I  gratefully  retired. 

So  the  days  wore  on,  and  my  scare  wore  off.  I 
no  longer  turned  dizzy  when  ordered  aloft,  and 


22  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

began  to  settle  down  as  best  I  could  into  the 
uncongenial  life.  I  found  out  that  the  captain's 
name  was  Alexander,  a  little  sandy-haired  Scotch- 
man, a  good  seaman,  though  addicted  to  the  con- 
sumption of  whiskey  rather  more  than  was  good 
either  for  him  or  for  us.  He  had  his  wife  and 
baby  on  board,  and  I  had  shipped  on  the  under- 
standing that  I  was  to  wait  on  them.  But  the 
captain  soon  told  me  I  was  not  wanted,  never  had 
been,  and  I  was  ordered  forward  among  the  men, 
and  expected  to  do  a  man's  work. 

The  men  were  so  tickled  at  the  fact  of  my 
having  been  so  cleverly  fooled,  that  in  their  appre- 
ciation of  the  joke  they  were  somewhat  disposed 
to  be  kindly  towards  me.  The  chief  mate,  Davis, 
was  a  Welshman,  and  though  harsh  at  times,  was 
on  the  whole  pleasant  and  forbearing  with  my 
ignorance.  Being  a  thorough  seaman,  I  learnt  a 
great  deal  from  him.  He  was  a  middle-aged  man, 
with  a  shrewd  but  not  unkindly  face,  and  sharp 
black  eyes.  The  second  mate,  Mr.  Mason,  I  have 
already  described,  the  one  I  had  so  unfortunately 
offended.  He  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  show 
me  that  he  had  neither  forgotten  or  forgiven  my 
offence.  The  rest  of  the  watch  on  my  side 
numbered  eight  men.  One,  an  Englishman  by 
birth,  called  Smith,  was  a  type  of  sailor  fast  dis- 
appearing, a  man  that  believed  in  Dibdin  and  his 
songs,  really  loved  the  sea,  was  always  contented 
and  jolly,  and  was  an  old  "  man-o'-war's  "  man  to 
boot.  I  do  not  know  how  I  could  have  borne  the 


SHANG'AIED;  OR,  ROUND  THE  HORN.  28 

life  on  board  but  for  him  ;  he  not  only  helped  me 
when  I  had  work  beyond  my  strength  and  know- 
ledge, but  his  bright  manner  cheered  me  on,  and 
helped  me  out  of  many  a  fit  of  depression  into 
which  I  too  often  fell.  The  next  man  was  a  Welsh- 
man, called  Jones  of  course,  also  a  good-tempered 
fellow ;  he  had  been  a  navy  man,  and  though  only 
about  twenty,  had  deserted  from  the  ship  Repulse. 
Of  the  others,  three  were  Irish,  one  good,  one 
indifferent,  and  one  downright  nasty  in  temper. 
By  a  strange  coincidence  they  had  all  three  come 
from  the  part  of  Ireland  I  had  once  lived  in  as  a 
child,  and  the  familiar  names  of  places  and  people 
gave  me  a  queer  sensation.  Needless  to  say  that 
I  did  not  say  who  I  was,  though  I  more  than  once 
heard  them  mention  my  father's  name,  and  one 
spoke  of  his  funeral.  The  rest  of  the  eight  were 
Germans,  and  simply  outrageous  in  every  way. 

We  were  now  getting  into  warm  weather,  and 
the  trade  winds  blowing  steadily  there  was  little 
work  aloft,  and  consequently,  or  so  I  thought,  no 
danger ;  but  an  incident  happened  one  fine  morn- 
ing that  opened  my  eyes  to  the  fact  that  danger 
might  lurk  on  deck  as  well  as  aloft.  It  happened 
in  this  way.  I  had  been  sent  to  scrape  the  paint 
off  the  rim  of  the  forecastle-head.  There  was  no 
rail  to  it,  so  I  seated  myself  on  the  edge  with  my 
feet  on  the  jib-guys,  and  began  gently  scraping 
away  the  paint,  whistling  softly  meanwhile.  Sud- 
denly the  ship  gave  a  fierce  lurch,  my  feet  slipped 
off  the  guys,  and  down  I  shot  between  them  anc| 


24  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

the  forecastle-head.  My  right  hand  happening  to 
strike  against  the  guy  in  my  descent,  I  clung  to 
it  with  the  tenacity  of  death,  and  hung  suspended 
over  the  water,  while  the  surf  of  the  bow-wave 
roared  and  buzzed  in  my  ears,  and  the  roll  of  the 
ship  swung  me  outwards.  Strange  to  say,  I  never 
felt  calmer  in  my  life  ;  watching  my  chance,  I 
drew  myself  up  by  one  hand,  and  then  with  a 
sudden  spring  caught  at  another  guy-rope,  and  in 
a  moment  had  climbed  on  board,  and  calmly  walked 
down  to  the  main-deck  to  announce  the  loss  of 
the  scraper.  Had  I  missed  the  rope,  I  must  in- 
evitably have  been  killed,  as,  falling  so  close  to 
the  side  of  the  vessel,  I  should  have  been  sucked 
in  before  help  could  reach  me. 

Truth  to  say,  this  danger  appeared  as  nothing  to 
me  when  compared  with  the  sickening  terror  I  had 
felt  on  climbing  up  the  fore-top-gallant-mast,  per- 
haps because  this  had  come  too  suddenly  to  allow 
me  to  think  about  it. 

I  reported  the  loss  of  the  scraper  to  the  second 
mate,  who  said  with  a  scowl,  "  Then  why  didn't 
you  go  in  after  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  did,  sir,  but  couldn't  catch  it." 

He  paused  a  moment,  then  said,  "  Be  more  care- 
ful another  time ;  you  have  not  only  lost  the 
scraper,  but  raised  a  cry  of  '  Man  overboard '  for 
no  reason.  Don't  do  it  again." 

I  ventured  to  remark  that  I  didn't  cry  "  Man 
overboard,"  and  knew  nothing  about  it,  but  Mr. 
Mason  made  a  step  forward  as  though  he  meant 


SHANGHAIED;  OB,  BOUND  THE  HOBN.  25 

to  knock  me  down.  I  think  he  would  have  done 
so,  had  not  Mr.  Davis  here  come  up  and  said 
kindly,  "  Glad  you  are  safe,  my  boy.  Were  you 
frightened?  " 

"  No,  sir  ;  I  had  no  time,"  I  answered. 

Here  a  sailor  remarked  that  he  had  been  watch- 
ing me,  and  it  struck  him  that  I  was  too  lazy  to 
put  up  two  hands  to  save  myself,  preferring  to 
do  it  with  one. 

"  Be  more  careful  another  time,"  said  Mr. 
Davis,  in  the  same  words  as  Mr.  Mason,  but 
such  a  different  tone.  "  You  can't  expect  to  play 
such  gymnastics  with  impunity  on  board  ship." 

So  the  incident  ended,  but  it  had  the  advantage 
of  raising  a  feeling  in  my  favour  among  the  crew, 
and  it  became  a  common  belief  that  I  knew  rather 
more  than  I  cared  to  own  to,  in  a  nautical  point  of 
view,  but,  like  the  monkey,  feared  to  show  it  lest 
I  should  have  more  work  put  upon  me. 

Mr.  Mason,  too,  never  let  it  be  forgotten,  and 
when,  later  on,  the  first  mate  doubted  the  advisa- 
bility of  sending  me  on  a  highly  dangerous  mis- 
sion, such  as  casting  off  a  preventer-sheet  from 
the  mizzen-top-mast-stay-sail,  and  mentioned  his 
doubts  to  the  second  mate,  would  reply  with  a 
sneer,  "Never  fear,  he  won't  fall,  unless  the  stay- 
sail falls  too." 

Accordingly,  I  was  sent  up,  and  executed  the 
task  with  that  assumption  of  frozen  calm  that  I 
had  learnt  so  well  how  to  assume,  and  which  hid 
my  sinking  heart  and  trembling  limbs, 


26  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

The  other  "  impostor"  did  not  manage  even  as 
well  as  I  did,  and  must  have  led  a  life  of  hell. 
He  had  shipped  in  a  man's  place,  whereas  I  had 
shipped  in  a  boy's  ;  and  the  gulf  that  separates  an 
able-bodied  seaman  from  a  boy  on  board  a  short- 
handed  merchant  vessel,  is  one  too  awful  and  far- 
reaching  to  be  lightly  regarded. 

Time  wore  on,  and  we  crept  farther  south ;  the 
days  grew  shorter,  and  the  weather  colder.  The 
scantiness  of  my  wardrobe  now  began  to  show 
painfully.  The  slop  clothes  that  I  had  been  so 
lovingly  provided  with  by  Mr.  Watts  commenced 
to  "  carry-away."  The  much-lauded  imperishable 
oilskin  had  already  bleached  white,  and  the  boots 
— those  picturesque  sea-boots  that  show  so  well 
in  pictures — were  giving  signs  of  tender  spots, 
which  filled  me  with  gloomy  forebodings  as  to 
how  they  would  act  towards  me  when  we  en- 
countered Cape  Horn  weather,  or  "  Cape  Stiff," 
as  the  sailors  called  it. 

Shorter  and  darker  grew  the  days,  and  one 
morning  the  first  large  snowflake  descended  into 
the  black-looking  water,  like  some  lost  spirit  from 
heaven  sinking  into  bottomless  perdition.  It  was 
soon  followed  by  more  and  more  of  its  brethren, 
until  nothing  could  be  seen  of  sky  or  sea,  and 
we  worked  with  benumbed  fingers  and  frozen  feet, 
while  the  snow  made  its  way  down  our  necks  and, 
melting,  trickled  down  our  backs.  I  began  to 
understand  the  horror  and  terror  of  the  poor  for 
the  "  beautiful  snow," 


SHANG'AIED;  OB,  BOUND  THE  HOBN.       27 

I  understood  more  still  before  we  got  into  warm 
weather  again,  and  have  never  quite  lost  the  feel- 
ing of  hopeless  misery  and  depression  when  I  see 
the  snow  come  whirling  down,  silent  and  pitiless, 
into  the  dark,  gloomy  waters. 

One  incident  happened  at  this  time  that  may 
be  worth  mentioning.  The  captain  had  brought 
a  goat  on  board  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the 
baby  with  milk  ;  but  whether  it  felt  lonely  and 
sighed  after  pastures  green,  or  what,  one  thing 
was  clear — poor  old  Nanny  sank  into  a  decline, 
and,  to  avoid  any  charge  of  wilful  extravagance 
that  his  owners  might  possibly  bring  against  him, 
Captain  Alexander  ordered  her  to  be  killed  and 
served  out  to  the  men  as  mutton.  This  was  done, 
and  she  was  eaten  with  many  a  complaint  against 
her  leanness  and  toughness.  Jones  managed  to 
secure  the  head,  and  worked  up  a  little  joke  with 
it  as  follows.  The  snow  lay  deep  on  the  deck 
wherever  it  had  a  chance,  for  the  seas  were 
tumbling  heavily  overboard  every  five  minutes  or 
so,  and  all  above  the  main  deck  was  shrouded  in 
white.  Mr.  Jones  waited  until  black  night  fell 
upon  us,  and  the  look-out  man  had  taken  his  post, 
when  having  carefully  prepared  the  goat's  head 
he  placed  it  on  the  fore-bits,  and  retired  a  short 
distance  to  await  results.  They  came  with  all  the 
force  and  rapidity  any  practical  joker  .could  desire. 
The  "out-look  "  happening  to  turn  round,  saw  an 
unearthly  apparation,  and  expressed  his  feelings 
in  a  blood-freezing  howl;  after  standing  a  brief 


28  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

moment  paralyzed  with  terror,  he  jumped  for  dear 
life  down  on  the  main  deck.  Hearing  the  yell,  we 
all  went  up  on  the  forecastle  to  see  what  had 
happened. 

The  sight  was  certainly  sufficiently  alarming  to 
excuse  the  poor  "  look-out's  "  terror.  For  standing 
boldly  out  in  relief  from  its  hlack  snowy  back- 
ground, shone  the  head  of  "  Nanny,"  its  unearthly 
wide-open  eyes  glaring  with  sulphurous  and  stead- 
fast malignity  out  into  the  inky  night,  with  an 
expression  that  harmonized  beautifully  with  its 
black  face  and  long  Satanic  horns. 

"  No  wonder  that  Mick  yelled,"  chuckled  Jones, 
as  he  prepared  to  take  down  the  head ;  but  before 
he  could  reach  it  his  experienced  ear  caught  a 
familiar  sound.  "Look  out,"  he  shouted,  "  and 
hang  on  anywhere  you  can." 

The  next  moment  I  too  heard  the  hoarse  roar 
of  the  coming  surf,  as  a  white-capped  mountain  of 
water  loomed  suddenly  out  of  the  darkness,  and 
came  with  awful  speed  and  force  straight  for  the 
vessel. 

"  Jump  for  the  rigging,"  yelled  Jones,  setting  the 
example.  With  a  dexterity  taught  by  desperation, 
I  followed  him  as  he  flew  to  the  side  the  wave  was 
coming  from  (the  other  side  would  have  meant 
certain  death),  and  dashed  up  the  rigging  like  a 
sunbeam,  just  as  the  great  "comber"  charged 
resistlessly  over  the  deck,  burying  the  vessel  com- 
pletely out  of  sight,  leaving  us  clinging  to  the  frail 
mast  in  the  midst  of  the  raging  waters.  Well  it 


&HAN&AIED;  OR,  ROUNb  THE  HORN.  2D 

was  for  the  "look-out"  that  he  was  absent  from 
his  post,  for  his  part  of  the  deck  resembled  Niagara 
in  spring-time.  After  a  short  time,  the  water 
poured  off,  the  ship  righted  herself,  and  we 
descended  from  our  perilous  positions.  Poor 
Nanny's  head  had  been  washed  away  in  the  rush 
of  water.  Mick  always  vowed  that  the  devil  in 
person  visited  him  that  day. 

This  was  only  one  of  the  many  excitements  we 
enjoyed  in  our  passage  round  the  Horn.  In  the 
midst  of  the  dark  cloud  of  our  discomforts  there 
were,  however,  two  specks  of  brightness.  One  was 
that  at  midnight  the  cook  served  out  a  pannikin 
of  hot  coffee  to  each  one  on  watch ;  it  was  black 
and  horribly  sweetened  with  molasses,  a  fearful 
compound,  without  doubt.  When  I  think  of  it 
now  it  makes  me  feel  sick,  but  then,  when  we 
had  been  out  in  the  night  air  for  four  hours  in 
a  snowstorm — for  it  generally  was  snowing — we 
found  the  smoking  hot  mixture  simply  delicious. 
The  other  ray  of  comfort  was,  that  whenever  it 
blew  a  gale  which  necessitated  the  taking  in  of  the 
main-sail,  and  splicing  the  main-brace,  grog  was 
given  at  the  end  of  it.  It  did  not  matter  to  the 
men  that  the  pulling  in  of  that  particular  sail 
meant  two  or  three  hours'  grasping  and  clawing 
at  canvas  that  was  frozen  into  the  semblance  of 
sheet-iron,  while  the  snow  drove  persistently  down 
one's  throat  and  neck,  and  the  sail  itself  made 
back-somersaults  over  us  to  the  imminent  danger 
of  our  lives — if  only  they  got  their  grog  at  the 


80  BARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES; 

end  of  it.  The  memory  of  those  nights  stands  out 
hideous  as  a  nightmare.  I  often  thought  that  hell 
should  be  thus  described,  instead  of  the  usual 
theory  of  fire. 

About  this  time  a  curious  phenomenon  used  to 
present  itself.  We  had  now  got  so  far  south  that 
the  day  only  lasted  about  six  hours,  and  then  we 
had  to  take  the  clock's  word  for  it  that  it  was  day- 
light in  other  places ;  with  us  it  was  a  sepulchral 
kind  of  twilight,  wonderfully  uncanny  to  look  at. 
The  sun  would  rise  about  six  feet  in  the  heavens, 
then  retire  in  disgust,  leaving  us  in  the  "  gloam- 
ing." Shortly  afterwards  it  would  reappear  some- 
thing in  the  shape  of  a  switch-tailed  comet,  and 
almost  immediately  after  a  full  gale  of  wind  would 
set  in.  The  sailors  consequently  connected  the 
two  together,  and  appreciated  them  accordingly. 

The  next  thing  of  any  interest  that  happened 
was  the  total  ruin  of  all  the  drinking  water.  Part 
of  the  cargo  (wheat)  was  in  bulk,  and  the  water- 
tanks  had  been  fitted  with  wooden  man-hole 
covers  to  admit  of  the  pump  pipes  being  led  into 
them.  During  some  of  the  heavy  weather  we 
had  encountered  round  Cape  Horn,  these  covers 
had  shifted,  and  quantities  of  the  loose  wheat  had 
rolled  in,  also  divers  rats  had  found  a  last  resting- 
place  there ;  and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  water 
became  unpleasantly  diversified  thereby,  and  our 
daily  allowance  was  enriched  by  the  presence  of 
portions  of  black  fur  and  swollen  wheat,  while  a 
fascinating  bluish  oily  scum  dwelt  ever  on  the  top 


SHANG'AIED;  OB,  BOUND  THE  HOBN.      31 

of  the  water,  and  an  astonishing  smell  that  could 
be  tasted  pervaded  the  whole  forecastle. 

This  disaster  soon  took  the  spirit  out  of  the 
ship's  company ;  two  of  them  got  the  scurvy  and 
were  very  ill,  others  followed,  and  we  who  escaped 
that  painful  disease  were  obliged  to  do  the  work  of 
those  on  the  sick  list. 

It  was  fully  two  months  before  we  got  any  fresh 
water,  and  then  only  by  a  lucky  chance.  Becoming 
becalmed,  we  saw  not  far  off  another  vessel  in  the 
same  plight,  and  from  her  the  captain. obtained  one 
thousand  gallons  of  water  in  return  for  a  cask  of 
whiskey.  There  were  five  ships  besides  ours  be- 
calmed for  three  weeks  off  the  Western  Islands 
(Azores),  and  quite  a  brisk  trade  was  carried  on 
between  them,  and  visiting  to  some  extent  took 
place.  One  of  the  other  captains  had  his  wife  on 
board,  who  came  to  see  Mrs.  Alexander.  Our 
skipper's  wife  was  a  nice  young  thing,  and  with- 
out, of  course,  having  the  smallest  pretensions  to 
be  a  lady,  had  an  innate  tact  that  many  a  born 
lady  might  have  envied.  One  morning,  when  it 
was  snowing  and  blowing,  and  I  had  been  four 
hours  exposed  to  the  stormy  elements,  she  called 
me  into  her  cabin  and  brought  me  some  hot  tea 
and  a  huge  Cornish  pasty.  For  a  moment  I 
hesitated,  finding  it  easier  to  accept  insults  than 
kindnesses,  but  she  pushed  me  gently  into  a  seat 
and  said,  "  Don't  refuse  me.  I  have  a  brother  just 
your  age,  and  just  in  your  position ;  perhaps  if  I  am 
kind  to  you,  his  skipper's  wife  may  be  kind  to  him." 


32  &Attb  LIFE  IN  2*#S  COLONIES, 

Another  time,  seeing  how  miserably  clad  I  was, 
she  sent  me  some  garments.  On  my  venturing  to 
remonstrate  with  her,  she  said,  laughing,  "  You 
shall  pay  me  back  one  day  when  you  are  in  your 
right  position — for  I  know  you  are  not  now — by 
giving  my  Will  a  help  on  in  the  world." 

"  Will  "  was  at  that  time  eight  months  old.  The 
poor  little  chap  never  needed  my  or  any  one  else's 
care,  for  before  the  voyage  was  ended,  one  bright 
sunny  morning,  we  laid  him  to  rest  in  the  spark- 
ling waters,  with  a  ten-pounder  at  his  little  feet. 
The  distracted  mother  was  dragged  away  before  we 
lowered  him,  for  a  shark  had  followed  us  closely 
all  through  the  little  one's  five  hours'  struggle  with 
croup,  and  we  were  not  sure  whether  we  could 
save  the  body  from  the  great  brute's  jaws.  I  am 
happy  to  say  we  did  so — a  well-directed  ball  from 
the  first  mate  killed  the  monster.  We  did  not 
wait  to  take  him,  but  hurried  from  the  spot.  Mrs. 
Alexander  was  even  kinder  to  me  after  her  loss 
than  before,  for  Baby  Will  had  always  crowed  with 
delight  when  I  took  him  in  my  arms. 

But  to  return  to  our  becalmed  days.  They  passed 
on  wearily  enough,  though  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  we  had  nothing  to  do  but  lean  over  the  bul- 
warks and  whistle  for  wind.  Far  from  that,  we 
used  to  "  turn  to  "  at  6  a.m.,  wash  the  decks,  and 
tidy  the  ship  for  the  day.  We  did  not  "  spread 
the  awnings,"  as  in  the  ships  one  reads  about,  for 
a  very  good  reason— there  were  none  to  spread. 
At  8.  a.m.  our  watch  went  below,  and  the  other  one 


SHANG'AIED;  OB,  BOUND  THE  EOBN.      3B 

came  on  deck,  and  were  set  to  work  scraping  paint 
or  rust,  splicing,  putting  on  chafing-gear,  &c.,  &o., 
until  12  a.m ;  then  our  watch  rushed  eagerly  on 
deck  and  joyously  took  up  whatever  work  was 
going,  until  our  unappeasable  industry  was  checked 
at  4  p.m.  (eight  bells),  when  we  went  below 
for  the  first  dog-watch,  4  p.m.  to  6  p.m.,  during 
which  time  we  had  our  tea;  then  on  deck  again 
until  8  p.m.,  the  second  dog-watch;  then  below 
until  12  p.m.,  and  so  on.  No  speaking  or  singing 
was  allowed  during  work  time,  and  whistling  was 
high  treason.  We  painted  that  vessel  seven  times 
over  during  the  voyage,  Captain  Alexander  seem- 
ingly having  a  perfect  passion  for  the  smell  of 
turpentine.  But  the  culinary  arrangements  of  the 
British  merchant  marine  leave  a  good  deal  to  be 
desired.  Dinner  consisted  of  salt  horse  or  salt- 
junk,  as  the  case  might  be,  with  pea-soup  twice  a 
week,  into  which  we  used  to  pour  vinegar  so  as  to 
congeal  and  keep  it  from  jumping  overboard.  Three 
quarts  of  water  was  allowed  each  man  daily,  but 
as  his  soup,  tea,  and  coffee  were  taken  out  of  it, 
there  was  never  enough  for  drinking  purposes  in 
hot  weather.  Of  bread,  of  course,  there  was  none, 
but  ship  biscuit  was  allowed  ad  libitum ;  personally 
I  always  detested  it.  We  never  washed  in  fresh 
water  unless  it  rained,  when  each  man  caught  all 
the  water  he  could  for  himself,  and  washed  first 
his  clothes,  then  his  body.  On  Sundays  we  did  no 
work  beyond  scrubbing  the  decks  and  working  the 
ship  on  her  onward  course.  After  three  weeks'  calm 


34  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

a  strong  breeze  suddenly  sprang  up,  and  the  five 
ships,  signalling  farewells,  resumed  each  her  way. 

Shortly  after,  we  caught  a  shark  and  had  pieces 
of  it  fried  in  vinegar  for  dinner ;  but  every  one  was 
ill  from  it  except  myself,  chiefly  because  I  hardly 
touched  it.  (N.B.  I  don't  think  shark  can  be  as 
healthy  food  as  some  people,  probably  landsmen, 
like  to  make  out.)  A  week  after  the  voyage  was 
iresumed,  we  came  up  to  a  large  dismasted  ship, 
the  British  Princess.  She  looked  very  grand  and 
romantic,  stationary  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean, 
with  her  men  swarming  up  aloft  looking  like  flies, 
taking  down  the  remains  of  her  rigging  and  remov- 
ing various  spars  which  had  been  thrown  across 
her  deck.  She  was  only  twenty-two  days  out  from 
England,  and  was  bound  for  Calcutta.  As  she 
needed  no  assistance,  we  saluted  and  left  her  alone 
in  her  glory. 

More  days  passed  on,  succeeding  each  other  with 
wearying  monotony,  until  the  time  came  when  we 
commenced  to  make  preparations  for  coming  into 
port.  The  last  coatings  of  paint  were,  for  the 
seventh  time,  daubed  on ;  the  masts  scraped  and 
varnished.  The  officers  and  men  grew  less  surly  ; 
even  Mr.  Mason  ceased  to  always  greet  me  with  a 
curse  or  an  insult.  The  commissariat  improved  to 
a  slight  degree,  and  the  weekly  rations  of  fourteen 
ounces  of  sugar  sometimes  swelled  to  a  full  pound. 

At  last,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  came  one  morning 
the  electrifying  cry  of  "  Land."  Oh  !  my  dear  long- 
suffering  readers — if  I  have  any — did  you  ever  know 


SHANGPAIED;  OB,  ROUND  THE  HORN.  35 

what  it  was  to  sight  land  after  one  hundred,  and 
fifty  days  cramped  up  in  a  700-ton  barque,  with  a 
crew  of  more  or  less  blackguards  for  company  ?  and 
that  land  England !  Whether  you  have  a  home 
there,  or  loving  friends  longing  to  see  you,  or  as  I 
was,  without  father  or  mother,  and  with  only  rela- 
tions utterly  indifferent  to  my  welfare,  makes  no 
difference  to  the  feeling  of  joy  that  pervades  one's 
heart  and  soul  at  that  magic  cry,  "  Land  !  " 

There  it  was,  merely  a  blue  cloudy- looking  line 
in  the  far  distance,  but  the  sight  seemed  to  put  us 
all  out  of  our  senses.  The  watch  below  came 
rushing  on  deck  to  view  that  blessed  sight,  and 
gazed  and  gazed  at  the  glimpse  of  the  promised  land, 
until  ordered  to  resume  work  ;  even  then  they  did 
not  murmur  or  grumble. 

But  we  had  not  yet  reached  the  much-desired 
haven  where  we  would  be,  and  the  old  adage, 
"  There's  many  a  slip  'twixt  cup  and  lip,"  was 
again  proved  true.  For  the  wind  rose  with  sudden 
fury,  blew  a  gale  that  increased  to  two  gales 
with  alarming  swiftness.  Sail  after  sail  took  itself 
away  before  it  could  be  taken  in,  flying  over  the 
seething  mass  of  stormy  waters  like  some  huge 
birds  mad  with  joy  at  their  freedom.  Some  of  the 
head-sails  were  still  remaining,  and  I  being  so  ex- 
pert a  climber — heaven  save  the  mark! — was  ordered 
by  my  friend  the  second  mate  to  go  and  haul 
them  in.  I  went  to  the  forecastle-head  to  do  so, 
and  the  fury  of  the  elements  invested  me  with 
some  of  their  wild  excitement.  The  barque  plunged 


36  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

up  and  down  mountains  of  water,  quivering  from 
bow  to  stern,  and  I  climbed  up  the  swaying  mast 
shouting  wildly  with  a  very  frenzy  of  delight  at 
this  battle  between  man  and  Nature.  I  had  got 
the  sails  in,  and  was  descending,  when  a  sudden 
gust  of  wind  threw  a  coil  of  rope  against  me  and 
knocked  me  clean  overboard.  Instead  of  falling 
into  the  sea  and  being  no  more  seen,  I  fell  astride 
the  shank  of  one  of  the  anchors.  I  should  hesitate 
to  speak  of  so  astounding  a  fact,  knowing  how  apt 
people  are  to  believe  that  sailors  and  travellers 
generally  draw  the  long  bow  when  recounting  their 
adventures,  had  there  not  been  a  witness  to  my 
marvellous  though  unconscious  feat  of  gymnastics. 
Mr.  Mason  saw  me  blown  off,  and  looked  over  the 
side ;  before,  however  he  could  raise  the  cry  of 
"  Man  overboard,"  he  observed  me  sitting  astride 
the  anchor. 

"  Well,  the  devil  must  be  taking  care  of  you 
for  some  purpose  or  other !  "  was  his  remark  as  he 
gave  me  a  hand  and  hauled  me  on  deck. 

We  were  working  slowly  up  to  Caernarvon  Bay, 
and  the  wind  now  shifted  to  the  west.  This  was  a 
very  serious  affair  for  us,  as,  with  the  exception  of 
the  lower-main-topsail,  we  had  lost  all  our  sails, 
and  that  one  was  no  great  good  to  a  ship  clawing 
off  a  lee  coast  with  a  strong  current  setting  land- 
wards. The  result  of  the  change  in  the  wind  was 
soon  apparent ;  for  every  point  of  headway  we  made 
seven  points  to  leeward,  which  was  sufficiently 
alarming. 


SHANG'AIED;  OB,  BOUND  THE  HOBN.       b7 

But  bad  as  was  our  plight,  our  sympathy  was 
soon  called  forth  for  a  vessel  in  greater  need. 
Away  to  leeward  of  us,  perfectly  within  sight,  a 
large  Norwegian  vessel  was  vainly  striving  to  beat 
out  to  sea ;  but  the  current  was  too  strong  for  her, 
and  little  by  little,  in  spite  of  her  desperate  efforts, 
she  was  driven  towards  the  deadly  rocks  that 
showed  themselves  now  and  again  through  the 
heaving  surf,  like  wolves  in  ambush  awaiting  their 
prey.  Nearer  and  nearer  the  merciless  breakers 
hounded  her  on  to  her  death.  We  watched  with 
painful  interest,  but  could  do  nothing  ;  our  man  at 
the  wheel  had  as  much  as  he  could  do  to  keep  us 
out  of  the  fatal  current.  At  last  the  end  came  :  a 
billow  seemingly  stronger  than  the  others  lifted 
the  vessel  on  her  crest,  and  dashed  it  clean  against 
the  cliffs  that  towered  three  hundred  feet  above 
her.  Above  the  roar  and  din  of  wind  and  waves  we 
heard  the  crash  of  her  timbers  as  they  broke  against 
the  rocks  ;  then  the  hungry  waves,  gathering  force, 
rushed  towards  her  in  one  huge  pyramid  of  foam 
and  overwhelmed  her.  She  emerged  from  it  for  a 
minute,  and  we  saw  her  in  a  sudden  hush,  upright 
with  all  her  crew  clinging  to  the  masts,  then  she 
plunged  bows  forward  and  disappeared.  And  the 
waves  dashed  against  the  cliffs  and  the  winds  blew 
as  before,  and  there  was  nothing  to  tell  that  over 
a  hundred  men  had  gone  down  with  their  gallant 
ship  that  had  borne  them  so  long.  Another  hour's 
fair  sailing  would  have  landed  them  safely.  There 
would  be  many  a  desolate  home  and  broken  heart 


38  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

in  the  far  Northland  amongst  those  who  watched 
vainly  for  husband,  father,  or  Mend.  Sorrow  on, 
brave  hearts,  but  not  for  them ;  their  last  gale  is 
weathered — they  keep  their  solemn  watch  below 
"  till  the  sea  gives  up  its  dead." 

We  learnt  afterwards  that  the  ship  had  been 
out  three  years.  An  occurrence  like  this  could 
not  fail  to  affect  the  most  hardened  and  callous 
among  us,  the  more  so  as  there  was  some  proba- 
bility of  our  sharing  the  same  fate.  One  or  two 
of  the  men  ceased  swearing  for  a  while,  and  Rogers 
(the  soldier)  with  white  lips  asked  me  if  I  did  not 
think  that  the  people  on  the  cliffs  were  wishing 
and  praying  we  might  get  in  in  safety.  On  my 
suggesting  that  he  would  do  well  to  pray  himself, 
he  answered  he  didn't  know  how,  but  he'd  a  sort 
of  idea  there  was  a  God  somewhere  who  could  help 
us  if  He  would.  Poor  ignorant  Rogers,  he  knew 
nothing ;  but  in  the  moment  of  danger,  instinct 
drove  him  to  the  only  real  place  of  safety,  "  the 
everlasting  arms." 

But  our  own  position  was  becoming  perilous, 
and  we  were  drifting  nearer  and  nearer  to  land, 
which,  as  Captain  Alexander  had  no  knowledge  of 
the  coast,  was  fraught  with  considerable  danger. 
We  looked  around  in  vain  for  a  pilot,  who  had  been 
signalled  for  long  since.  Hour  after  hour  passed 
by,  and  our  position  got  worse  and  worse;  the 
crowds  on  the  cliff  increased  in  number,  and  they 
were  doubtless  expecting  to  see  us  sink  like  the 
great  Norwegian  vessel.  At  last  a  pilot  put  out, 


SHANG'AIED;  OR,  SOUND  THE  HOEN.       39 

and  before  long  we  were  hailed  by  the  joyful 
words,  "Ship  ahoy!  do  you  want  a  pilot?" 

"  Want  a  pilot?"  Hadn't  we  been  signalling 
for  one  the  last  three  hours  and  more.  He  was 
warmly  received,  but  the  captain  cooled  down 
when  ,£30  was  demanded  for  the  job,  and  seemed 
inclined  to  back  out  of  the  business.  The  pilot,  a 
crafty  old  sea-dog,  protested  that  he  couldn't  do  it 
for  a  farthing  less.  "  Keep  your  luff,  you  at  the 
wheel !  "  he  yelled.  "  By  George,  you'll  lose  her 
yet.  Come,  hurry  up,  Captain.  Yes,  or  no  ?  I 
don't  want  to  make  food  for  the  fishes.''' 

Captain  Alexander  surrendered,  paid  the  money, 
and  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  were  in  safe 
anchorage.  In  fact  we  had  been  so  at  the  time 
the  pilot  boarded  us,  but  the  skipper  did  not  know 
it.  Of  course  he  was  furious  when  he  discovered 
the  trick,  but  it  was  too  late  then.  We  came  to 
an  anchorage  at  Holyhead,  and  the  voyage  was 
practically  ended.  Two  days  afterwards  we  were 
towed  up  to  Liverpool,  where  the  barque  unloaded 
and  was  laid  up  for  repairs.  I  bade  good-bye  to 
Mrs.  Alexander,  who  on  parting  gave  me  a  ringlet 
of  Baby  Will's  hair  as  a  keepsake,  and  begged  me 
to  write  to  her  sometimes.  That  lock  of  soft 
golden  hair  1  still  have,  though  I  never  wrote  to 
wee  Will's  mother,  and  our  paths  have  never 
crossed  again.  But  I  shall  not  forget  as  long  as 
my  life  lasts  her  kindness  to  a  desolate  boy ;  nor 
will  she,  I  think,  forget  one  on  whom  her  dead 
baby  used  to  smile. 


A    VOYAGE   TO   CHINA. 

SOME  twenty  years  or  more  ago,  I  sailed  in  the 
iron  barque  Peep-o'-Day  then  going  to  China. 
The  weather  was  favourable,  and  until  we  reached 
the  Bay  of  Biscay  nothing  occurred  of  interest,  at 
least  to  me.  There  I  nearly  lost  my  life  through 
one  of  those  acts  of  ignorance  and  foolishness  that 
sailors  more  than  other  peple  are  so  apt  to  commit. 
One  day,  the  breeze  freshening  somewhat  suddenly, 
the  second  mate  ordered  in  the  flying-jib.  As  it  is 
always  considered  the  boy's  place  aboard  ship  to 
furl  all  the  small  sails,  I  hurried  out  on  the  boom 
to  do  so.  It  was  my  first  voyage,  and  I  knew  little 
or  nothing  of  seamanship.  Making  my  way  out,  I 
kept  to  the  lee  side,  whilst  I  tried  to  gather  in  the 
sail  in  order  to  get  the  gasket  around  it.  After 
tugging  vainly  for  some  minutes,  I  had  nearly 
succeeded,  when  a  fierce  gust  of  wind  blew  the 
sail  against  me,  and  in  another  moment  I  was 
knocked  clean  off  the  flying-jib-boom.  Oh!  the 
horror  and  length  of  that  moment ;  the  sickening 
sensation  of  utter  powerlessness  as  I  shot  through 
space;  the  sudden  plunge  deep  down  into  the 
ocean ;  the  terrible  feeling  of  despair  and  loneli- 
ness when,  on  reaching  the  surface,  I  saw  the  ship 


\ 


ARTHUR  CADEW  JENKINS. 
(After  a  Photograph.) 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  41 

already  far  off !  Luckily  for  me,  the  man  at  the 
wheel  had  seen  me  fall,  and  putting  the  wheel 
hard  down  to  fetch  the'  ship  up  in  the  wind,  and 
so  stop  her  progress,  cried  out,  "  Man  overboard !  " 
That  thrilling  cry  always  brings  every  one  on 
deck ;  a  boat  was  soon  lowered,  and  I  was  picked 
up  half  a  mile  astern,  well-nigh  exhausted. 

Fair  weather  accompanied  us  right  on  to  the 
Western  Tropics,  where  we  witnessed  a  very 
curious  spectacle.  As  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
a  distance  of  about  some  three  miles,  was  a 
seething  mass  of  fish,  closely  packed  together  by 
the  million.  They  were  the  Bonita,  a  short, 
sturdy  fish,  reddish  in  colour  outside,  and  very 
good  eating.  The  first  mate,  who  was  very 
knowing  in  all  piscatorial  matters,  said  that  they 
had  probably  been  pursued  by  some  finny  monster, 
and  were  migrating.  They  were  starving,  and 
devoured  each  other  ravenously  with  much  ap- 
parent relish.  All  hands  on  board  were  called  up 
to  catch  them,  which  was  by  no  means  difficult  to 
do.  It  was  an  odd  sight  to  see  the  various  men 
at  work.  Some,  with  true  instinctive  love  of 
angling,  got  out  their  lines  and  caught  them  in 
the  approved  fashion;  others,  on  the  contrary, 
disdaining  such  slow  measures,  lowered  buckets, 
bringing  up  hundreds  each  time.  The  chief  mate 
seated  himself  on  the  top-gallant-yard  with  a  sack 
slung  to  him,  which  he  rapidly  filled  with  his 
hands  as  the  ship  ploughed  her  way  slowly 
through  the  living  waters.  An  Irishman  on  board, 


42  HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

not  to  be  outdone  by  the  chief  mate,  sewed  up  the 
ends  of  an  old  pair  of  trousers,  lowered  it  with  a 
weight  in  each  leg,  and  hauled  it  up  "  alive  and 
kicking"  amidst  a  roar  of  laughter. 

Some  of  the  hands  got  poisoned  eating  these 
fish ;  for,  in  spite  of  the  first  mate's  warning,  they 
would  leave  them  out  in  the  boats  to  dry  after 
having  cleaned  them ;  and  the  moon,  which  is  very 
powerful  in  the  tropics,  poisoned  all  the  fish  ex- 
posed to  her  light.  One  of  the  seamen  got 
moon-blind  from  obstinately  lying  exposed  to  the 
rays  of  the  moon  at  this  place.  He  could  see  as 
well  and  clearly  as  any  one  else  during  the  day, 
but  at  night,  no  matter  how  clear  the  sky  might 
be,  he  was  quite  blind.  I  have  never  heard  that 
there  is  any  cure  for  moon-blindness. 
.  A  few  weeks  after,  we  witnessed  a  battle  royal 
between  a  Sword-fish,  a  Whale,  and  a  Thrasher. 
Their  mode  of  warfare  was  peculiar  and  decidedly 
interesting  to  watch.  On  this  occasion  it  was  two 
against  one,  i.e.,  the  Sword-fish  and  the  Thrasher 
against  the  Whale.  The  Thrasher  would  make  a 
sudden  rush,  rise  into  the  air,  and  come  down  on 
the  top  of  the  Whale,  with  a  tremendous  whack 
and  crash  that  could  be  heard  half  a  mile  off. 
The  poor  Cetacea,  to  escape  from  this  enemy, 
would  dive,  when  the  Sword-fish,  being  on  the 
lookout,  would  dash  at  him  like  a  flash  of  light- 
ning, driving  his  sword  into  him  up  to  its  very 
snout — I  had  nearly  said  hilt.  This  defence  and 
attack  went  on  for  some  half-hour,  when  the 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  43 

Whale  began  to  spout  blood  and  died.     We  left 
the  victorious  ones  feasting  upon  him. 

It  was  through  a  whale,  of  which  there  are 
quantities  in  these  seas,  that  the  monotony  of 
the  life  on  board  was  at  this  time  considerably 
disturbed.  An  enormous  bull,  fully  sixty  feet  in 
length,  came  alongside  so  quietly  that  the  first 
intimation  we  had  of  his  proximity  was  his 
spouting  a  few  gallons  of  water  over  our  taffrail, 
and  uttering  a  deep,  hollow  roar  that  might  be 
heard  a  mile  off.  The  man  at  the  wheel  was 
nearly  frightened  into  fits,  and  Ching,  a  Chinese 
dog  on  board,  and  a  universal  pet,  became  literally 
mad  with  terror.  Ching  soon  had  sole  possession  of 
the  deck,  for  all  hands  took  to  the  rigging,  fearing 
a  bite  from  the  mad  dog,  who  ran  to  and  fro  with 
tail  lowered  "  half-mast,"  and  all  his  hair  down  his 
back  bristling.  After  some  talk,  the  carpenter 
undertook  to  cure  him,  and  as  we  had  no  gun  at 
hand  with  which  to  shoot  him,  beside  the  desire 
we  all  had  to  save  his  life,  the  man  was  allowed  to 
try  his  powers  of  curing  a  mad  dog.  We  all  looked 
on  with  great  interest  as  he  made  a  noose  from 
some  cord  cut  from  the  rigging,  and,  the  next 
time  Ching  came  his  way,  he  cleverly  threw  it 
over  his  head  and  drew  it  tight  enough  to  keep 
him  still,  though  not  tight  enough  to  strangle  him. 
Then  jumping  down  from  the  rigging,  he  quickly 
fetched  an  axe  and  chopped  off  the  tip  of  Ching's 
tail  to  let  the  blood  flow.  That  done,  he  dipped 
him  overboard  twice,  and  brought  him  on  deck 


44  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

restored  and  in  his  right  mind.  Never  afterwards 
could  Ching  be  induced  to  sleep  on  the  taffrail; 
indeed,  he  always  passed  it  with  a  rush. 

Meanwhile  the  whale  was  keeping  abreast  ol  us, 
and  some  fears  were  entertained  of  his  attacking 
the  barque.  He  was  as  long  as  the  ship,  and  it 
would  have  gone  hard  with  us  if  he  had  taken  it 
into  his  small  head  to  do  so ;  but  apparently  he 
decided  that  it  was  not  worth  while,  for,  with  a 
final  roar  and  dive,  he  went  away  to  the  right,  and 
we  saw  no  more  of  him.  Not  long  after  this  we 
very  nearly  lost  Ching' s  saviour,  the  carpenter.  It 
was  a  dead  calm.  Orders  had  been  given  to  rig 
stages  out  over  the  ship's  side,  and  some  of  the 
men  told  off  to  scrape  the  barnacles  off  her  bottom 
with  long-handled  spades.  Some  of  these  barnacles 
were  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  and  considerably 
impeded  our  progress.  It  was  very  hot,  and 
during  the  change  of  watches  some  of  the  men 
and  myself  jumped  off  the  stages  and  took  a 
delightful  bath.  It  gives  one  a  curious  sensation 
to  be  alongside  of  the  vessel  one  minute,  and  the 
next  wave  would  take  her  some  twenty  yards  or  so 
away,  the  next  again  bringing  her  up  so  close  that 
you  felt  she  was  coming  on  top  of  you.  Mason — 
that  was  the  carpenter's  name — seeing  us  enjoying 
ourselves  and  swimming  about  so  easily,  thought 
he  could  do  the  same ;  so,  undeterred  by  the 
trifling  fact  that  he  could  not  swim  a  stroke,  he 
hastily  undressed,  and,  getting  on  the  rail,  jumped 
clean  overboard,  feet  first.  It  seemed  a  long  time 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  45 

before  he  came  up  nearly  on  the  spot  he  went 
down,  but,  as  he  expanded  his  hands  and  opened 
his  mouth,  down  he  went  again  immediately  like 
a  shot.  The  first  mate,  with  some  others  of  us, 
happened  to  observe  him,  and  the  former  sung 
out,"  Man  drowning  !  "  Two  sailors  immediately 
jumped  on  the  stage  with  ropes  and  a  life-buoy, 
and  the  next  time  he  appeared  threw  them  to  him. 
He  had  just  strength  to  clutch  one  of  the  ropes, 
and  was  hauled  on  to  the  stage,  where  he  fainted. 
It  is  really  astonishing  that  so  many  men  whose 
whole  lives  are  on  the  ocean  should  not  know,  or 
even  care  to  learn,  how  to  swim.  That  very  same 
day  I  came  near  losing  my  life  in  a  horrible 
manner.  There  was  another  boy  on  board  beside 
myself,  who  could  not  swim.  The  captain  wished 
me  to  teach  him,  and  ordered  him  to  get  down  on 
the  stage  and  strip ;  he  also  gave  him  a  life-belt. 
But  Jennings  was  too  timid,  and  only  stood 
shivering,  unable  to  summon  up  courage  enough 
to  venture  into  the  water,  particularly  after  the 
carpenter's  adventure.  Therefore,  after  swimming 
about  for  a  time  on  the  life-buoy,  to  show  him  how 
easy  it  was  and  how  safe,  I  threw  it  on  the  stage, 
and  struck  out  for  a  long  swim,  boy-like,  to  show 
off.  After  going  some  little  distance,  I  heard  a 
fearful  yell,  and,  looking  back  to  the  ship,  saw  the 
men  gesticulating  madly  for  me  to  come  back. 
Frightened  by  their  actions  and  their  looks — for 
after  the  one  shout  they  kept  silence — I  swam  back 
to  the  vessel  as  fast  as  I  could.  As  soon  as  I 


46  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

reached  the  stage,  half  a  dozen  hands  grabbed 
hold  of  me  and  hauled  me  on  deck,  where  the 
captain,  collaring  me,  naked  as  I  was,  dragged 
me  aft  and  told  me  to  look  over  the  side.  I  did 
so,  and  there  was  a  tremendous  tiger-shark  over 
twenty  feet  long.  His  small  eyes  looked  straight 
up  at  me,  and  he  snapped  his  jaws  with  a  yapping 
sound  that  made  my  blood  ran  cold.  In  fact  it 
gave  me  such  a  shock  and  made  so  deep  an 
impression  on  me,  that  I  vowed  from  that  day 
forth  nothing  should  ever  induce  me  to  take  a 
swim  in  broad  ocean.  The  sailors  were  not  long 
in  giving  me  a  nearer  and  pleasanter  sight  of 
him.  A  large  iron  hook  attached  to  a  strong 
chain  was  thrown  over,  after  being  baited  with 
a  piece  of  salt  pork.  The  greedy  brute  grabbed 
at  it  at  once,  and  in  his  struggles  to  get  away 
tore  his  jaw  badly ;  nevertheless  back  he  came 
for  the  meat,  was  caught,  and  after  some  hard 
work,  hauled  on  deck.  The  first  thing  he  did 
was  to  knock  down  the  black  cook  who  was 
standing  by,  and  smash  the  binnacle-stand  with  a 
flap  of  his  tail.  With  great  difficulty  he  was  got 
down  to  the  main-deck,  where  the  carpenter,  who 
seemed  to  have  a  speciality  for  such  operations, 
chopped  off  his  tail  with  an  axe ;  that  quieted  him. 
But  sharks  cling  to  life  with  horrible  tenacity. 
This  brute,  after  his  head  was  cut  off  and  he  was 
opened,  had  muscular  movements  all  over  him ; 
his  backbone  measured  twelve  feet;  well  cleaned 
and  cut  to  a  suitable  size,  they  make  handsome 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  47 

walking- sticks.  We  caught  twenty-seven  sharks 
altogether  of  different  kinds  and  sizes  on  this 
voyage. 

A  few  days  after  entering  the  Straits  of  Sunda 
we  sighted  Java,  and  soon  after  anchored  off  Anger 
Point.  This  was  the  first  land  we  had  been  near 
since  leaving  England,  a  period  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty-six  days. 

A  week  before  this  we  sighted  a  ship,  the  Pem- 
brokeshire from  London.  On  signalling  us,  and 
finding  we  had  been  out  so  unusually  long,  the 
captain  concluded  that  we  must  be  short-handed 
from  scurvy,  or  loss  of  life,  a  gale  or  some  other 
accident  which  had  prevented  the  barque  from 
being  properly  worked.  Being  a  kind-hearted  man, 
he  came  on  board  bringing  two  sacks  of  potatoes, 
some  newspapers  and  tracts.  Hearing  that  two  of 
our  men  were  down  with  scurvy,  he  sent  his  boat 
back  for  another  load  of  potatoes,  while  he  stayed 
on  board  the  barque  to  lunch,  for  which  state 
occasion  the  last  fowl  aboard  was  killed  and 
roasted;  it  being  little  but  skin  and  bone,  Ching 
got  the  most  of  it.  When  the  boat  had  brought 
the  second  load  of  potatoes,  the  captain  of  the 
Pembrokeshire  returned  to  his  own  ship,  and  we 
soon  parted  company,  as  she  was  a  fast  sailer.  We 
were  all  of  us  the  better  for  the  short  visit — 
nothing  is  so  refreshing  as  the  sight  of  new  faces 
after  months  of  always  seeing  the  same.  That 
captain  (I  am  sorry  to  say  I  forget  his  name)  was 
a  good  and  humane  man.  He  would,  I  think,  be 


48  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

sorry  if  he  knew  that  all  his  kindness  was  thrown 

away,  Captain  J being  one  of  the  meanest  and 

most  cowardly  men  it  was  ever  my  misfortune  to 
sail  under.  On  this  occasion,  after  giving  us  one 
meal  of  fresh  potatoes  and  several  times  a  few 
raw  ones  sliced  in  vinegar  to  the  sick  men,  he  kept 
all  the  rest  for  his  own  use  in  the  cabin. 

But  we  were  now  anchored  off  Anger  Point,  the 
captain's  gig  was  ordered  out,  and  I,  being  a  good 
hand  at  the  oars,  was  allowed  to  make  one  of  the 
boat's  crew.  When  we  got  ashore  it  was  like 
entering  into  Paradise.  The  most  magnificent 
tropical  fruits  and  flowers  were  in  the  wildest  pro- 
fusion ;  crowds  of  natives  running  about  almost  in 
a  state  of  nudity,  the  men  well  made,  with  shapely 
limbs,  the  women  with  soft  eyes  and  small  hands 
and  feet ;  a  great  many  shops,  mostly  kept  by 
Chinamen  dressed  in  their  silken  robes  heavily 
embroidered  with  gold  and  silver ;  Dutch  soldiers, 
still  wearing  their  old-fashioned  uniform  of  a 
hundred  years  ago;  Europeans  in  their  sombre 
modern  dress  mingling  among  the  crowds  of 
natives.  The  latter,  men,  women  and  children, 
were  many  of  them  bathing  together  in  the  clear 
sparkling  water.  All  was  so  bright,  so  fresh  and 
lovely,  that  it  made  up  a  scene  never  to  be 
forgotten. 

The  Chinese  shopkeepers  were  very  polite, 
offering  us  such  tea  as  they  only  can  make,  in  tiny 
delicate  cups  about  the  size  of  egg-cups,  and  en- 
deavouring to  get  us  to  teach  them  some  English 


A  fOYAGfi  TO  CHINA:  49 

Words  in  return  for  their  kindness.  They  are 
remarkably  quick,  and  picked  up  not  only  words 
but  whole  sentences  with  marvellous  rapidity. 
When  we  returned  to  the  ship,  a  great  many 
natives  followed  us  in  their  canoes,  loaded  down  to 
the  water's  edge  with  the  most  delicious  fruits ; 
pine- apples,  cocoa-nuts,  bananas,  sugar-canes, 
plantains,  oranges,  lemons,  and  the  famous  rnun- 
gastine,  to  taste  which  epicures  have  been  known 
to  come  all  the  way  from  Europe.  It  only  grows 
in  this  place,  and  I  believe  all  attempts  at  propa- 
gating it  elsewhere  have  failed.  I  was  as  eager  as 
the  rest  to  taste  this  great  delicacy,  and  must 
confess  that  it  exceeded  my  expectations — it  is  a 
most  delicious  fruit.  Its  outward  appearance 
somewhat  resembles  the  poppy-head  when  gone  to 
seed.  On  opening  this  outer  skin,  the  fruit  is  seen 
lying  inside,  shaped  something  like  a  peeled  orange. 
It  melts  away  on  being  placed  in  the  mouth,  leaving 
a  most  exquisite  flavour. 

The  natives  trade  their  fruits  for  old  clothes, 
soap,  or  any  European  articles.  A  good  lot  was 
bought  by  the  hands  on  board,  and  the  natives 
proceeded  to  return,  when  a  stiff  breeze  sprung 
up  suddenly,  capsizing  several  of  their  canoes. 
They  seemed  quite  unconcerned  about  it,  getting 
straddle-legged  on  them,  and  paddling  for  shore 
'through  a  heavy  sea.  It  was  here  that  the  most 
awful  thunder-storm  took  place  that  I  ever  wit- 
nessed in  my  life.  Piles  of  black  clouds  had  been 
slowly  making  their  way  from  the  west,  and  towards 

5 


SO  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

afternoon  hovered  over  the  ocean,  ominous,  grim 
and  still.  The  silence  was  almost  awful ;  we  all 
felt  depressed  and  fearful,  while  Ching  whimpered 
sadly  and  tried  to  hide  himself.  Suddenly  there 
came  an  appalling  crash  of  thunder  that  shook  the 
ship  from  bow  to  stern,  and  she  quivered  and 
shuddered  at  her  moorings.  All  hands  rushed  on 
deck,  thinking  that  the  masts  had  been  struck  and 
gone  overboard.  It  lasted  about  an  hour,  flash 
after  flash  of  forked  and  sheet  lightning,  violet  and 
purple,  scarlet  and  opal  in  colour,  followed  imme- 
diately by  crashing  peals  of  thunder  that  literally 
deafened  you.  The  sea  rose  and  added  its  roar  to 
the  thunder,  and  the  heavens  opened,  letting  the 
waters  pour  down  in  torrents.  In  another  hour 
the  sun  was  shining  and  the  sky  was  clear ;  only 
the  ocean  heaved  and  moaned,  unable  to  calm 
itself  so  quickly  after  the  angry  storm. 

The  sailors  laid  in  a  stock  of  yams  here,  a  kind 
of  potato,  as  large  as  a  man's  head,  and  very  good 
eating,  besides  being  nutritious  and  wholesome  ; 
after  which  we  set  sail  for  Shanghai. 

I  have  mentioned  that  our  captain  was  a  mean 
and  cowardly  man,  much  disliked  by  all  his  crew. 
Discontent  was  rife.  The  men  commented  in  no 
measured  terms  at  his  stinginess  in  not  getting  in 
fresh  provisions  at  Java,  and  things  came  to  a 
climax  when,  scurvy  again  attacking  some  of  the 
crew,  the  remainder  of  the  men  had  double  work, 
and  were  still  kept  on  short  rations  on  account  of 
the  long  voyage.  So  they  mutinied,  and  in  the 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHltfA,  5l 

height  of  a  fearful  hurricane.     Captain  J ,  who 

had  never  been  in  these  latitudes  before,  having 
always  sailed  in  the  Mediterranean  until  he  got 
this  command,  was  ignorant  of  the  danger  of  these 
tropical  hurricanes.  We  had  all  sail  set  at  the 
time,  and  although  the  squall  was  seen  coming,  he 
imagined  it  was  of  no  importance  and  gave  no 
orders  to  shorten  sail.  The  men  went  about  their 
work  with  sullen  anger,  whispering  among  them- 
selves. The  hurricane  was  not  long  in  approach- 
ing, and  struck  the  barque  with  fierce  fury.  Smash 
went  the  two  royal  and  top-gallant  masts,  the 
flying-jibbooni  with  all  the  yards  and  sails  attached, 
The  force  of  the  wind,  added  to  the  wreck  of  the 
masts,  threw  the  Peep-o'-Day  on  her  beam  end, 
where  she  was  in  imminent  danger  of  filling  and 
going  down.  At  this  moment  it  became  of  inky 
blackness,  the  wind  howled  and  shrieked  like  wild 
fiends  let  loose,  and  the  sea  was  lashed  to  fury ; 
the  waves  poured  over  the  vessel,  which,  encum- 
bered by  the  fallen  masts,  could  not  right  herself. 
It  was  in  this  time  of  awful  peril  the  mutiny 
occurred.  The  captain  came  running  forward  with 
axes,  and  ordered  the  men  to  cut  away  the  riggings 
and  throw  the  masts  overboard  that  the  ship  might 
have  a  chance.  The  men  folded  their  arms  and 
flatly  refused  to  obey  him,  their  spokesman  saying 
that  they  would  rather  go  down  with  the  ship  at 
once,  than  to  go  on  starving  and  being  overworked 

as  they  had  been.     Captain  J was  so  frightened 

that  he  actually  wept  with  terror.     He  promised 


52  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

the  best  the  ship  could  give — "  Only,  for  God's 
sake,  clear  the  deck  of  the  masts,  or  we  shall  all  be 
lost  in  a  few  minutes  !  "  At  first  he  wept  and 
prayed  in  vain.  Finally  four  men  did  go  to  work, 
cleared  the  wrecked  masts  away,  and  the  Peep  o' 
Day  righted  herself.  The  sea  was  one  sheet  of 
white  foam,  and  rose  mountains  high  for  a  day  and 
a  night  after  the  hurricane  was  over,  that  only 
lasted  twenty  minutes.  Things  went  on  somewhat 
better  after  this,  as  the  captain  was  too  much 
afraid  of  another  mutiny  not  to  keep  his  promise. 
Nothing  of  interest  occurred  until  within  about  a 
week's  sail  of  Shanghai,  when  we  narrowly  escaped 
being  destroyed  by  a  waterspout.  These  spouts 
contain  thousands  of  tons  of  water,  and  if  they 
should  burst  on  a  ship  would  sink  it  instantly. 
The  one  I  mention  was  making  straight  for  us,  a 
stately  but  awful  object.  There  was  scarcely  a 
breath  of  wind  stirring,  and  the  captain,  after  vainly 
trying  to  get  out  of  its  way,  ordered  one  of  the 
large  guns  to  be  loaded  with  a  heavy  charge  of 
powder.  When  all  was  ready,  a  red-hot  poker  was 
obtained  from  the  cook's  galley  and  the  gun  was 
fired.  Instantly  the  tremendous  pillar  of  water 
tottered  and  fell  headlong  into  the  sea,  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  from  us. 

A  week  from  this  date  we  arrived  at  the  mouth 
of  Yang-tsze-kiang  River,  leading  on  to  Shanghai. 
This  river  runs  a  great  distance  into  the  interior, 
and  is  one  of  the  principal  means  of  traffic. 

The  most   striking  feature  that   struck  us   on 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  53 

entering  the  harbour  was  the  large  number  of 
ships,  most  of  them  flying  their  ensigns  half-mast, 
the  token  of  death.  Over  eight  hundred  vessels 
were  at  anchor  here,  the  largest  number  in  a 
foreign  port  I  ever  saw,  with  one  exception :  that 
was  at  New  York  just  after  the  war  had  ended. 

We  soon  found  out  that  there  was  no  chance  of 
getting  a  cargo,  as  most  of  these  ships  had  been 
waiting  here,  some  three,  some  four  months  for 
that  purpose.  The  distress  and  misery  occasioned 
by  this  forced  delay  was  something  truly  frightful. 
Trade  all  over  India  and  China  was  very  dull  at 
this  time.  The  captains,  obliged  to  pay  heavy 
harbour  dues  as  well  as  keeping  the  men  at  full 
wages,  became  despairing  and  desperate.  It  was 
useless  to  go  elsewhere  for  freight,  all  trade  being 
at  a  standstill.  This  state  of  things  so  worked 
upon  the  minds  of  the  captains  and  mates,  that 
almost  as  many  of  them  died  by  their  own  hand 
as  did  the  common  seamen  from  dysentery  and 
exposure.  Some  deliberately  drank  themselves  to 
death ;  others  blew  their  brains  out ;  and  many 
jumped  overboard  and  let  themselves  drown,  while 
their  crew  looked  on  with  stolid  indifference.  It 
was  one  of  the  usual  customs  to  go  round  to 
the  different  neighbouring  ships  every  morning  to 
find  out  who  was  alive,  and  how  many  had  died  a 
natural  death  or  had  killed  themselves.  In  the 
afternoon  of  the  day  they  died  they  would  be 
buried,  the  body  or  bodies  being  placed  in  boats 
and  taken  down  to  Fu-rchow  (I  think  the  name 


54  HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

was)  Eeach,  which  opens  into  the  river,  and  there, 
without  a  word  of  prayer  or  ceremony  of  any  sort, 
were  thrown  over  to  sink  or  swim,  and  became 
food  for  the  fishes.  The  town  was  so  full  of 
seamen  who  could  get  no  ships  that  every  hoarding- 
house  was  filled  to  repletion,  and  fearful  quarrels, 
often  ending  in  murder,  took  place  for  the  sake  of 
a  filthy  corner  in  which  to  lie.  The  heat  was 
stifling  and  the  stench  appalling.  Many  of  the 
men  would  take  their  blankets  at  night  and  sleep 
on  the  beach  for  coolness.  Most  of  them  would 
be  dead  by  the  morning,  which  did  not  in  the 
least  prevent  others  attempting  the  same  thing 
the  following  night.  The  heavy  steamy  malaria 
arising  from  the  swampy  ground  after  the  great 
heat  of  the  day  made  the  night-air  fatal  to  most. 
Sailors  are  very  much  like  children,  having  no 
thought  or  care  for  themselves,  without  a  child's 
obedience  to  protect  them  from  danger,  and  there- 
fore they  do  not  give  themselves  a  chance  in  these 
eastern  countries.  They  will  eat  voraciously  of 
vegetables  and  fruits,  which,  not  being  accustomed 
to,  brings  on  violent  diarrhoea.  Unless  this  disease 
can  be  taken  in  time,  it  causes  a  sure  and  painful 
death.  A  man  taken  with  it  has  no  appearance  of 
sickness,  he  keeps  his  colour,  and  his  eyes  are 
bright,  but  he  gets  rapidly  thin,  and  so  weak  as 
to  be  unable  to  lift  his  hand  to  his  mouth.  I, 
amongst  others,  was  taken  down  with  it.  Captain 
J—  —  declared  I  was  shamming,  and  ordered  me 
to  work,  threatening  otherwise  to  send  me  to  the 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  55 

French  hospital,  where,  it  was  said,  a  kiiife  was 
run  into  the  heart  of  any  one  whose  recovery 
was  not  rapid  enough  to  satisfy  the  doctors.  I 
attempted  to  crawl  aft  to  the  main-deck,  but  was 
so  blinded  by  weakness  that  I  could  not  see  where 
I  was  going,  and  stumbling  against  one  of  the 
masts,  fell  heavily.  A  Nova  Scotia  seaman,  who 
had  often  shown  me  some  kindness,  dragged  me 
back  to  the  forecastle,  cursing  the  captain,  the 
climate,  the  heavens  and  the  earth  in  no  measured 
language.  For  weeks  after  I  lived  on  nothing  but 
rice-water,  if  the  state  I  was  in  could  be  called 
living,  for  I  lay  all  day  and  night  with  no  feeling 
but  one  of  utter  powerlessness  and  weakness. 
Tears  of  weariness  would  roll  down  my  cheeks 
when  forced  to  the  exertion  of  swallowing  a 
mouthful  of  rice-water.  The  doctor  coming  one 
day,  pronounced  me  dead ;  but  when  in  the  after- 
noon I  was  placed  in  the  boat  with  two  men  who 
really  were  dead,  I  was  seen  to  breathe,  so  carried 
back  to  my  berth  again,  where  I  finally  recovered, 
chiefly  from  being  left  alone.  We  lost  four  men 
from  diarrhoea,  and  two  died  in  the  hospital  from 
scurvy.  During  the  three  months  and  a  half  that 
we  stayed  at  this  port,  over  seven  hundred  died  or 
committed  suicide. 

The  Peep-o'-Day  lay  out  in  the  stream  opposite 
the  English  Town.  In  these  Chinese  cities  each 
nationality  has  its  own  separate  town,  known  as 
English  Town,  French  Town,  American  Town,  and 
so  on,  The  river  Yang-tsze-kiang  is  3,158  English 


56  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

miles  in  length,  and  has  a  current  running  eight  or 
nine  knots.  It  is  of  a  dirty,  muddy  colour,  and 
has  but  little  beauty  to  recommend  it.  There  is 
one  curious  thing  about  it,  and  that  is  that  in 
these  large  Chinese  cities  more  than  a  quarter  of 
the  population  live  on  the  water,  having  their 
streets  and  towns  built  on  the  river.  Shops  and 
markets,  business  of  all  sorts,  is  carried  on  by  the 
people  as  though  on  land.  But  these  floating 
towns  are  often  scenes  of  terrible  accidents,  owing 
to  the  swiftness  of  the  current  and  the  carelessness 
of  the  people.  Often  the  sampans,  sort  of  boats, 
miss  their  hold  of  the  ship  they  intend  to  reach, 
and  are  swept  down  the  cable  of  the  next  ship, 
capsized,  and  not  unfrequently  dashed  to  pieces. 
A  Norwegian  captain  and  his  wife  got  drowned  in 
this  way,  trying  to  reach  their  ship.  Poor  girl ! 
she  had  only  been  married  about  a  month.  When 
their  bodies  were  found,  they  were  so  tightly  locked 
in  each  other's  arms  that  they  were  placed  in  the 
same  hammock  and  buried  down  the  river,  with 
more  ceremony  and  display  of  feeling  than  was 
given  to  events  far  more  tragic  and  awful.  I 
remember  being  struck  with  the  great  length  and 
beauty  of  the  young  wife's  hair,  of  that  pale  gold 
colour  that  Norse  women  often  have.  The  water 
had  washed  it  around  her  husband's  neck  and 
arms,  and  it  glittered  on  him  like  rays  of  gold. 
These  sampans,  although  safe  enough  for  those 
who  understand  them  and  know  something  of 
seamanship,  are  very  dangerous  to  the  inex- 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  57 

perienced  and  careless.  They  are  exceedingly 
light,  and  shaped  something  like  a  cockle-shell, 
capsize  easily,  and,  although  universally  em- 
ployed in  China,  are  a  frequent  cause  of  accident 
and  loss  of  life.  It  seemed  to  me  that  they  might, 
without  much  cleverness  or  difficulty,  be  made 
safer,  but  no  one  troubled  their  heads  about  it. 
The  small  passenger  sampans  are  propelled  by  a 
man  at  the  stern,  who  sculls  and  steers  at  the 
same  time.  Where  the  current  is  very  strong, 
some  of  the  passengers  will  condescend  to  put  out 
oars  at  the  sides  or  bows  to  prevent  being  carried 
off  or  capsized. 

The  European  Town  appeared  much  as  in 
Europe,  the  shops  being  built,  stocked,  and  kept 
by  Europeans,  and  so  had  nothing  particularly 
interesting  about  them.  But  the  China  Town  was 
exceedingly  curious,  and  consisted  chiefly  of  a 
great  number  of  small  huts,  bazaars,  and  stalls. 
in  which,  huddled  together  in  wild  confusion,  was 
a  heterogeneous  mass  of  Chinese  toys,  sweetmeats, 
jewellery,  roast  pig,  vegetables,  embroidered  stuffs 
— in  fact,  everything  that  can  be  imagined.  The 
ground  was  low,  filthy  with  putrid  matter  left  to 
rot,  and  the  smell  something  too  awful.  We  used 
to  stuff  some  cotton-wool  up  our  nostrils,  but  it 
was  not  much  good,  for  it  was  a  smell  that  could  be 
tasted,  and  even  a  bit  of  camphor  kept  in  our  mouths 
— when  we  were  lucky  enough  to  procure  a  bit — 
was  only  a  short  relief.  The  dirt  and  smell  were 
only  exceeded  by  the  frightful  discordant  noises 


58  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES, 

that  never  ceased  day  or  night :  men  quarelling  in 
all  languages,  merchants  bawling  out  their  wares, 
dogs  yelping,  a  din  of  pipes  and  a  wild  beating  of 
gongs  that  certainly  did  not  impress  me  favourably 
with  the  Celestial  City.  There  was  a  wall  around 
the  town  covered  with  spikes,  on  which  were  stuck 
the  heads  of  Chinamen  beheaded  for  murder  or 
robbery.  The  effect  of  these  grinning  heads  was 
ghastly  in  the  extreme. 

At  the  time  I  am  writing  of,  any  European  was 
justified  in  killing  any  Chinaman  he  found  outside 
China  Town  after  eight  o'clock  at  night  without 
his  pass,  which  was  a  Chinese  lantern  having  the 
pass  inside.  Most  of  these  Chinese  ports  belong 
to  England,  and  disputes,  fights,  and  murder  were 
of  everyday  occurrence.  Besides  which,  war  was 
raging  up  the  country,  and  it  was  a  common  thing 
for  us  to  go  over  the  ship's  bows  to  clear  her  cable 
of  dead  Chinamen  brought  down  by  the  river. 
They  would  float  up  and  down  with  the  tide,  it 
seemingly  being  no  one's  duty  to  bury  them.  One 
is  said  to  become  accustomed  to  all  things,  but  I 
must  confess  that  it  was  never  without  a  shudder 
I  saw,  as  I  often  did  on  looking  into  the  river,  the 
hideous  face  of  a  dead  Chinaman  grinning  up  at 
me  from  the  muddy  water. 

During  this  time  of  forced  inaction,  the  morale 
among  the  European  seamen  became  very  bad. 
Those  who  at  the  commencement  had  been  dis- 
charged and  could  get  no  ships  and  no  work  were 
in  a  bad  way,  and  would  induce  sailors,  who 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  59 

although  on  board  a  vessel,  were  almost  as 
destitute  as  themselves,  to  join  them  in  attempts 
to  get  food  and  money.  All  sense  of  right  and 
wrong,  of  honesty  and  truth,  seemed  lost.  English 
and  Dutch,  French  and  Spaniards,  Germans  and 
Italians,  would  band  together  to  plunder.  One 
party,  rendered  desperate  by  starvation  and  misery, 
boarded  a  two-masted  lighter  anchored  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  threw  the  Chinamen  over- 
board to  sink  or  swim — most  sank — and  then  went 
up  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  exchanged 
some  things  on  board  for  raw  silk,  which  they 
sold  again  in  the  cities,  and  having  paid  no  duties 
on  it  managed  to  make  some  money.  So  callous 
had  the  authorities  become  that  even  this  outrage 
passed  unnoticed. 

Another  favourite  mode  of  obtaining  money  was 
to  watch  where  the  rich  Chinese  were  buried,  and 
at  night  a  party  of  men  would  dig  them  up  and 
cut  off  their  tails,  which  were  more  than  half 
made  of  silk,  and  were  worth  from  six  to  eight 
dollars  apiece.  These  fellows  also  obtained  a 
hearty  meal  at  the  same  time,  as  after  all  the 
screaming  and  yelling,  the  beating  of  gongs, 
burning  of  incense,  dropping  coins  and  other 
death  ceremonials  have  been  gone  through,  the 
relations  leave  the  dead,  placing  beside  him  a  good 
roast  pig  and  plenty  of  rice,  in  order  that  he  may 
not  starve  on  his  journey  to  the  next  world.  The 
rich  Chinese  are  buried  within  a  large  inclosure  of 
white  masonry  shaped  like  a  horse- shoe.  I  never 


60  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

saw  a  Chinese  woman  buried,  but  as  the  Chinamen 
do  not  believe  their  women  have  souls,  they 
probably  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  provide  them 
with  food  for  the  long  journey.  Parents  will  sell 
their  children  quite  readily,  and  you  can  purchase 
a  very  nice  girl  for  thirty  dollars. 

Frequently,  during  the  weary  months  we  lay  by 
in  the  river,  we  were  visited  by  ivory-men,  fellows 
selling  Chinese  curiosities  made  of  ivory,  sandal- 
wood,  and  bamboo.  Whilst  we  were  looking  over 
their  collection  of  fans,  jewellery,  and  knick-knacks 
of  all  sorts,  they  would  stealthily  take  notes  of 
how  many  men  were  on  board,  how  many  guns 
the  vessel  possessed,  what  sort  of  man  the  captain 
was  and  so  on,  for  they  were  all  spies  paid  by  the 
pirates.  After  making  the  rounds  of  several  ships, 
they  would  despatch  their  information  to  the 
pirates  waiting  out  at  sea,  more  particularly  the 
information  when  certain  ships  would  leave  the 
harbour,  and  the  number  of  her  crew,  guns,  &c. 
Directly  the  unfortunate  vessel  left  the  river  anil 
entered  the  high  seas,  down  would  come  the 
pirates,  take  the  ship,  and  kill  all  hands  with  the 
utmost  barbarity  and  torture.  Woe  betide  any 
woman  that  fell  between  their  hands — their  fate 
was  too  awful  to  put  into  words.  Whenever  there 
was  time,  their  husbands  killed  them  with  their 
own  hands,  or  they  drowned  themselves  rather 
than  fall  into  the  power  of  the  pirates.  Some  of 
these  pirate  junks  were  quite  as  large  as  any 
European  ship,  having  seven  masts  and  carrying 


A  VOYAGE  2»0  CHINA.  61 

twenty  guns,  while  they  were  manned  by  a  crew 
of  not  less  than  two  hundred  men.  They  are 
splendid  seamen,  and  can  sail  in  the  wind's  eye 
with  any  European  ship,  and  they  weather  the 
heaviest  gales.  Nearly  every  week  the  English 
gunboats  would  bring  in  one  and  sometimes  two 
that  they  had  captured.  In  most  cases  men  of 
European  nationality  were  found  aboard,  having 
entered  into  the  service  of  the  pirates  to  work 
their  guns  for  them  in  exchange  for  high  wages, 
it  being  a  matter  of  perfect  indifference  to  them 
from  whom  they  got  the  money  as  long  as  they 
did  get  it.  It  was  very  hard  at  that  time  to  find 
out  who  were  pirates  or  who  were  not.  The  only 
way  to  be  sure  was  to  examine  their  papers,  and  if 
they  had  been  out  over  a  year  they  were  pirates. 
They  seldom  sink  the  vessels  they  plunder,  and 
only  care  to  plunder  those  taking  stuffs  from  the 
country.  In  order  to  be  revenged  for  the  loss  of 
some  of  their  junks,  seven  of  them  joined  together 
and  attacked  one  English  gunboat ;  she  resisted 
and  defended  herself  gallantly,  but  what  chance 
had  she  against  so  many  ?  She  was  taken,  and  all 
hands  not  killed  in  the  fight  were  murdered  slowly 
in  cold  blood  with  the  most  revolting  tortures. 
These  pirates  fight  like  devils ;  they  seem  to  rejoice 
in  it  with  a  fierce  insatiable  joy.  One  morning 
we  witnessed  a  fearful  fight  between  two  junks 
and  a  Spanish  barque.  The  latter  was  attacked 
just  on  leaving  the  river.  The  barque  put  two 
shots  into  one  of  the  junks  at  long  range,  and  so 


62  BA&b  LIFE  IN  TSE  COLONIES. 

smashed  her  at  the  water-line  that  she  sank  in 
less  than  twenty  minutes  with  all  hands  on  board. 
The  other  junk  then  came  close  to  the  barque  and 
threw  "stink-pots"  aboard  (a  sort  of  Greek-fire 
with  a  most  horrible  and  suffocating  smell),  but  as 
fast  as  they  were  thrown  aboard  the  Spaniards 
pitched  them  into  the  sea.  The  pirates  then  tried 
to  use  their  boarding  pikes,  but  the  Spaniards  kept 
them  off  for  some  time.  Then  many  of  them  got 
on  board  the  barque,  but  the  Spaniards,  who  use 
the  knife  splendidly,  picked  them  off  one  by  one, 
while  two  or  three  of  them  standing  in  the  bow 
shot  down  the  Chinamen  as  fast  as  they  could 
load.  Finally,  seeing  that  they  were  gaining  no 
advantage,  the  pirates  became  panic-struck,  and 
all  that  were  left  rushed  back  to  their  junk  hoping 
to  push  off  and  escape ;  but  the  wily  Spaniards  had 
lashed  the  vessels  together,  and  pursuing  them 
into  the  junk  stabbed  all  they  could  lay  hands  on. 
Many  of  the  pirates  jumped  overboard  and  were 
drowned.  In  the  chief  cabin  they  found  an 
English  lady  of  rank  half  dead  with  terror;  she 
had  been  barbarously  outraged,  and  would  doubt- 
less have  been  murdered  had  the  pirates  had  time 
to  think  of  her.  The  Spaniards  found  plenty  of 
treasure  aboard,  and  having  towed  this  prize  into 
Shanghai,  were  handsomely  rewarded  not  only  by 
the  lady,  who  was  very  rich,  but  also  by  the 
different  Governments,  for  their  gallantry.  They 
all  made  enough  by  that  capture  to  enrich  them- 
selves for  life,  but,  like  true  sailors,  they  spent  it 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  63 

all  while  in  port  in  the  most  foolish  and  extrava- 
gant manner. 

The  week  after  this  capture  by  the  Spaniards, 
an  English  gunboat  brought  another  pirate  junk 
into  Shanghai.  It  had  been  taken  after  a  hard 
chase.  Many  of  the  pirates  jumped  overboard, 
knowing  what  fate  awaited  them,  but  most  were 
picked  up  alive  by  the  boats  of  the  English  vessel 
and  brought  into  port — a  hundred  and  fifty  of 
them.  Amongst  them,  dressed  as  Chinamen,  were 
four  Europeans — one  Irishman,  two  English,  and 
one  French.  They  aimed  their  guns  for  them, 
and  were  paid  over  one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars 
a  month.  Being  caught  red-handed,  there  was 
very  little  time  wasted  over  a  trial ;  they  were  all 
executed,  the  four  Europeans  being  hung  from  a 
church  steeple,  and  the  Chinamen  beheaded  by 
their  executioner,  who  with  a  long  sword  cuts  off 
three  heads  at  once.  It  is  the  simplest  arrange- 
ment in  the  world :  the  men  laid  their  heads  on  a 
bamboo  bench — on  this  occasion  placed  on  the 
beach — and  the  executioner  with  one  blow  of  his 
sword  cut  off  the  three  heads  at  once,  when 
another  three  men  were  placed  on  the  same  spot, 
reeking  with  blood,  and  so  on  until  all  were  dead. 
Two  of  the  chiefs  were  sliced  to  pieces  with 
swords,  the  executioners  cutting  off  ears,  cheeks, 
shoulders,  arms,  sides,  &c.,  with  cool  deliberation. 
It  was  a  sickening  spectacle.  The  pirates  them- 
selves never  uttered  a  sound  or  even  winced — nor 
had  they  been  drugged,  as  is  sometimes  the  case. 


64  BARD  LIFE  tit  fSE  COLONIES. 

Their  power  of  endurance  and  stoic  indifference" 
to  pain  is  something  I  have  never  been  able  to 
understand. 

In  the  charred  remains  of  a  barque  found  float- 
ing out  at  sea  were  discovered  several  bodies  with 
their  eyes  and  tongues  torn  out,  the  nails  pulled 
from  their  fingers,  and  other  atrocities  too  horrible 
to  mention.  After  we  had  been  at  Shanghai  for 

three  months  and  a  half,  Captain  J ,  finding 

that  there  was  no  chance  of  getting  a  cargo  here, 
resolved  to  go  elsewhere  and  seek  one ;  so  we  took 
in  stone  for  ballast,  and  a  pilot  to  take  us  safely 
out  of  the  harbour.  As  we  were  slowly  making 
our  way  down  the  river,  the  Peep-o'-Day  suddenly 
struck  on  a  sand-bank.  The  shock  of  the  sudden 
stoppage  sent  us  all  flying,  the  masts  cracked  and 
creaked,  but  luckily  stood  firm.  Orders  were 
given  for  all  sail  to  be  taken  in  at  once  and  the 
kedge  anchors  to  be  run  out.  This  was  done,  but 
to  no  purpose.  Then  a  tug-boat  was  sent  for; 
even  then  we  did  not  budge,  although  we  had  out 
our  lower  anchor,  heaving  on  the  windlass,  to  help 
the  tug.  All  we  succeeded  in  doing  was  to  break 
the  hawsers ;  next  we  tried  with  the  cable,  with 
the  same  result ;  then  by  the  captain's  orders  we 
gave  up  trying,  which  order  struck  us  all  as  being, 
to  say  the  least  of  it,  singular — for  this  bank  was 
of  quicksands.  Before  night  the  bow  had  sunk 
eight  or  ten  feet,  and  the  stern  was  raised  up  in 
the  air  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees. 
We  had  to  hold  on  to  the  rigging  going  from  one 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  65 

end  of  the  ship  to  the  other,  and  had  the  pleasant 
anticipation  of  being  sucked  in.  We  remained  in 
this  state  all  night ;  the  next  morning  the  captain, 
taking  the  pilot  with  him,  went  to  Shanghai  to 
find  lighters  to  lighten  her,  which  of  course  should 
have  been  done  fifteen  hours  before.  On  the 
second  day  of  his  absence,  during  which  time  we 
were  gradually  sinking,  there  happened  a  spring- 
tide, and  a  tug-boat  passing  by,  the  chief  mate 
determined  to  make  another  effort  to  get  her  off. 
Putting  a  cable  out  to  the  tug-boat,  and  attaching 
a  second  to  the  lower  anchor  which  we  worked 
with  the 'windlass,  we  succeeded  after  some  hours' 
hard  work  in  moving  her  into  deep  water;  then 
getting  our  anchors  and  boats  aboard,  were  towed 
up  the  river.  On  the  way  we  met  the  captain, 
who,  instead  of  being  pleased  at  his  ship's  having 
been  saved,  got  in  a  violent  passion  with  the  mate, 
used  the  most  abusive  language,  and  finally,  losing 
all  self-control,  dashed  him  off  the  poop.  He 
dismissed  him  at  Shanghai,  actually  daring  to  say 
that  the  chief  mate  had  attempted  to  run  off  with 
his  ship.  It  was  the  firm  opinion  of  the  men  that 

Captain  J had  intended  to   lose  the  vessel, 

having  in  fact  been  put  aboard  for  that  purpose. 
She  had  been  built  for  a  steamship,  but  would  not 
answer  in  that  capacity ;  finding  which,  her  owners 
changed  her  into  a  barque  and  offered  her  for  sale 
at  the  low  price  of  £3,000,  but  failed  to  sell  her ; 
then  they  insured  her  heavily  and  sent  her  out 
under  command  of  Captain  J ,  with  the  pro- 


66  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

bable  understanding  that  she  would  do  them  more 
service  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  than  at  the  top. 
Twice  afterwards  we  went  ashore,  once  on  rocks 
coining  out  of  Hong-Kong,  and  the  other  time  on 
a  sand-bank  away  up  north  near  Nui-Chwang. 
Taking  a  new  mate  on  board — there  being  no  lack 
of  them  ready  and  willing  to  leav.e  Shanghai — we 
once  more  went  down  the  river  and  into  what  is 
called  the  Inner  Channel  on  our  way  to  Nui- 
Chwang.  It  was  tiresome  work  with  a  great  deal 
of  tacking  to  do,  owing  to  there  often  being  land 
on  both  sides.  Several  times  we  were  obliged  to 
anchor  at  night  to  avoid  the  danger  of  running 
ashore.  One  evening,  after  beating  about  all  day, 
we  had  got  our  anchor  ready  to  drop  in  some  safe 
place,  and  had  taken  in  most  of  the  small  sails, 
when  we  heard  firing.  Bounding  a  point  of  land, 
we  saw  in  a  little  cove,  where  we  had  intended 
anchoring,  more  than  a  dozen  seven-masted  pirate 
junks,  mostly  riding  at  anchor.  They  were  firing 
and  fighting  among  themselves,  probably  over 
some  plunder.  At  any  rate,  we  were  not  anxious 
to  stay  and  find  out  the  cause  of  dispute,  but 
'bouted  ship  at  once,  put  on  all  the  canvas  we 
could  and  fled  for  our  lives ;  for  although  we  had 
nothing  worth  their  taking,  they  seemed  just  in 
the  mood  to  find  a  pleasure  in  the  amusement  of 
murdering  us  and  scuttling  our  ship.  We  did  not 
venture  to  anchor  all  night,  every  man  was  kept 
under  arms,  with  smothered  lanterns,  ready  in 
case  of  attack.  I  do  not  think  any  of  them 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  67 

followed  us ;    it   soon    got    dark,   and    the   next 
morning  we  saw  no  more  of  them. 

The  pirates  were  so  numerous  and  so  powerful 
at  this  time,  and  so  many  ships  had  been  taken  by 
them  and  all  hands  murdered,  that  the  merchant 
captains  joined  together  and  sent  a  memorial  to 
the  Home  Government,  stating  that  the  English 
men-o'-war  and  gunboats,  instead  of  being  out 
cruising  on  the  high  seas  in  order  to  protect  the 
mercantile  service,  thought  of  nothing  but  keeping 
in  port  and  giving  large  balls  and  entertainments 
amongst  each  other.  Also  that  the  man-o'-war 
ships  were  so  disgracefully  neglected  and  dirty 
that  it  was  impossible  to  go  up  their  gangways 
without  soiling  one's  hands.  There  was  a  great 
row,  of  course,  but  on  investigation  the  facts  were 
proved,  and  the  upshot  of  it  was  that  the  admiral 
was  recalled,  and  a  law  passed  that  merchant 
vessels  going  to  China  were  to  have  double  crews, 
and  to  be  fully  armed.  Things  went  better  after 
that,  but  as  it  was  some  time  before  the  law  could 
be  enforced,  the  pirates  worked  doubly  hard — I 
suppose  on  the  principle  of  making  hay  while  the 
sun  shines.  Among  other  affairs  of  note,  they  took 
one  of  the  magnificent  French  Havre  mail-boats 
by  stratagem.  As  these  boats  were  always  so  well 
armed  and  manned,  no  fears  had  been  entertained 
of  their  ever  being  molested  by  pirates,  but  on  this 
occasion  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  them,  dressed  as 
respectable  Chinese  merchants,  took  their  passage 
on  board  ostensibly  to  go  to  some  Chinese  port — I 


68  HAED  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

forget  which  now.  In  such  an  immense  ship  as 
the  Havre  mail-boat,  even  so  large  a  number  as 
one  hundred  and  fifty  merchants  would  not  excite 
notice.  Directly  they  were  in  full  ocean  the 
pirates  took  possession  of  the  ship,  killing  no  one 
but  the  chief  officer  and  one  sailor,  who  offered 
resistance.  The  passengers  were  too  paralyzed 
with  terror  and  surprise  to  do  anything,  and  the 
crew  had  all  been  bound.  Some  junks  came 
alongside,  and  into  them  was  transferred  all  the 
specie,  opium,  and  silks,  with  which  the  mail-boat 
was  heavily  loaded.  After  taking  everything  of 
value,  the  hundred  and  fifty  respectable  Chinese 
merchants  entered  their  junks  and  made  off  with 
their  booty. 

These  Chinese  seas  are  the  most  curious  in  the 
world.  Within  a  radius  of  thirty  miles  one  has 
all  weathers.  I  have  seen  three  different  vessels, 
one  having  her  square  yards  out;  the  second  under 
top-sails  with  a  stiff  breeze  and  a  heavy  sea;  while 
the  third  had  all  sail  set  in  order  to  catch  any  little 
zephyr  that  might  reach  them — all  three  within 
sight  of  each  other.  It  was  dangerous  work,  at 
that  time,  navigating  to  these  far  northern  Chinese 
seas,  not  only  on  account  of  the  capriciousness  of 
the  weather,  but  also  that  they  had  not  been 
surveyed,  even  by  the  Government  ships ;  so  the 
pirates  had  it  all  their  own  way.  We,  however, 
escaped ;  so  poor  a  thing  as  the  Peep-o'-Day,  having 
no  cargo  on  board,  was  evidently  disdained  by 
these  lordly  pirates.  I  assure  you  we  bore  them 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  G9 

no  ill-feeling  for  their  contempt.  After  some  two 
weeks'  hard  work  we  began  to  near  our  destination. 
A  pilot  was  taken  on  board,  and  we  crossed  the 
dangerous  bar  at  the  entrance  to  Nui-Chwang 
safely ;  but  on  working  our  way  up  the  river  Leao, 
under  the  pilot's  directions,  he  landed  us  high  and 
dry  on  a  green  field  !  The  land  all  around  being 
very  low  and  flat,  the  water  at  this  time  of  year 
(winter)  is  on  a  level,  and  not  unfrequently  overflows, 
as  had  happened  on  this  occasion,  making  it  very 
hard  to  distinguish  the  channel.  The  captain  got 
into  one  of  his  furious  rages  again,  and  was  only 
restrained  from  pitching  the  pilot  overboard  by  the 
recollection  that  without  him  we  should  be  in  an 
even  worse  plight.  So  he  contented  himself  with 
abusing  him  in  the  most  violent  manner,  storming 
and  raving  with  passion  till  he  foamed  at  the 
mouth.  The  poor  pilot,  a  quiet  Norwegian,  bore 
all  the  abuse  with  lamb-like  meekness,  which  only 

seemed  to  exasperate  Captain  J the  more,  who 

continued  abusing  him  until  his  voice  became  a 
shrill  shriek,  when,  giving  him  a  kick  as  he  passed, 
he  retired  to  his  cabin  to  drink.  We  lay  all  night 
on  the  green  field,  not  without  anxiety,  first  from 
pirates,  who  might  take  it  into  their  heads  to 
murder  us  for  fun,  and  secondly  from  the  position 
of  the  barque,  as  she  lay  well  over  one  side.  The 
next  morning  we  started  early  to  lighten  her  of 
some  of  the  ballast,  and  with  the  incoming  tide 
managed  to  get  her  off  and  work  her  up  under  easy 
sail  into  Nui-Chwang,  where  we  anchored  opposite 


70  HAttD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

the  town — if  such  a  word  could  be  applied  to  the 
cluster  of  poor  huts,  which  with  a  few  larger  and 
better,  built  for  the  Europeans,  comprised  the 
whole  of  it.  On  turning  out  the  next  morning  we 
were  disagreeably  surprised  by  finding  two  feet  of 
snow  on  the  deck.  After  sweeping  it  away  and 
putting  everything  in  order,  I,  amongst  some 
others,  was  allowed  to  go  on  shore  with  the 
captain,  who  wanted  to  see  his  agent  in  order  to 
obtain  some  money  and  see  about  getting  in  a 
cargo  of  small  beans.  There  was  literally  nothing 
to  see  but  dirty  huts  and  dirtier  streets,  still  it  is 
one  of  the  few  Chinese  ports  where  apples,  pears, 
and  carrots  can  be  obtained  as  well  as  sheep,  and 
is  an  important  port ;  at  this  time  there  were 
thirteen  other  vessels  lying  there  besides  our  own, 
mostly  English  and  Germans.  The  natives,  who 
are  of  the  Tartar  tribe,  are  fine  well-made  men, 
most  of  them  six  feet  in  height,  and  many  six  feet 
three  and  four.  The  women  are  equally  tall,  and 
beautifully  formed.  They  dress  very  warmly  in  a 
sort  of  linen,  padded  with  cotton*  As  we  wan- 
dered about  they  brought  us  different  kinds  of  furs 
to  look  at ;  some  were  really  very  magnificent, 
made  into  cloaks  and  caps  and  mats.  After  some 
hours'  wandering  about  we  returned  to  the  beach 
to  await  the  captain.  Soon  we  beheld  him  in  the 
distance  flying  towards  us,  hatless  and  breathless, 
with  a  mob  of  natives  at  his  heels.  As  soon  as  he 
reached  us  he  gasped  out,  "  Jump  in,  and  pull  for 
your  lives ! "  We  required  no  second  bidding,  sprang 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  7i 

in  and  plied  our  oars  with  such  vigour  that  the 
water  was  dashed  on  all  sides;  showers  of  mud  and 
stones  and  sticks  were  pelted  at  us,  without,  how- 
ever, doing  us  any  harm.  It  transpired  that  some 

of  the  natives  had  an  inkling  that  Captain  J 

was  going  for  money,  so  waited  outside  the  agent's 
office  to  meet  him.  Suspecting  something  un- 
pleasant from  their  looks,  and  measuring  the 
distance  to  the  beach  with  his  eye,  he  took  to 
his  heels — the  wisest  thing  he  could  do,  for  they 
were  half  savages,  and  always  in  a  state  of  rebel- 
lion against  the  Imperial  Chinese  Government. 
At  this  time  they  were  commanded  by  a  prince, 
some  relation  to  the  Emperor,  and  their  cause  of 
revolt  was  the  intense  dislike  they  had  to  the 
admittance  of  foreigners  to  their  country.  Most 
of  the  time  we  were  there  they  were  fighting  not 
far  from  Nui-Chwang,  and  we  were  lucky  in  leaving 
when  we  did,  as  after-events  proved  to  us.  Having 
got  in  our  cargo,  we  and  seven  other  vessels  were 
piloted  down  the  river,  and  all  fortunately  crossed 
the  bar,  with  the  exception  of  a  Hamburg  barque, 
which  stuck  fast  and  had  to  be  abandoned.  That 
night  the  five  vessels  left  in  port  were  taken  by  the 
rebels,  and  all  hamds  murdered  with  unparalleled 
atrocity.  It  made  a  great  effect  on  us,  for  we 
knew  all  the  men  personally ;  the  thought  of  the 
tortures  those  poor  fellows  had  undergone  threw  a 
gloom  over  us  for  some  time.  But  at  sea,  more 
perhaps  than  anywhere  else,  there  is  little  time  for 
retrospection;  three  days  after  the  horrible  tragedy, 


'T2  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

a  terrible  monsoon  came  on,  every  recurring  day 
getting  more  frightful.  On  the  fourth  day  a 
tremendous  gust  smashed  the  top-gallant-masts 
as  well  as  the  top-mast-boom,  bringing  the  whole 
wreckage  on  deck  with  such  force  that  the  broken 
boom  went  clean  through  the  deck.  For  six  days 
we  saw  neither  sun,  moon,  or  stars,  and  were 
without  any  knowledge  of  our  whereabouts.  We 
could  get  no  soundings,  as  it  was  certain  destruc- 
tion to  try  and  bring  her  to,  running  as  we  were 
under  bare  poles,  at  the  mercy  of  the  monsoon. 
The  sea  was  of  a  thick  muddy  colour,  and  the  sky 
grey  and  lowering;  every  minute  we  expected  to 
go  on  the  rocks.  A  spare  mast  that  was  lashed 
with  chains  broke  loose,  and  was  blown  across  the 
deck,  breaking  the  leg  of  a  man,  who  was  endea- 
vouring, with  a  second  seaman,  to  go  aft,  in  order 
to  relieve  the  man  at  the  wheel.  The  captain  had 
brought  on  board,  as  a  private  speculation,  a  good 
many  pigs ;  these  were  kept  in  a  strong  wooden 
house,  and  were  being  carefully  fattened  up  for 
sale.  Alas  for  the  captain,  a  fiercer  gust  than 
usual  tore  the  pig-house  from  its  fastenings  and 
pitched  them  overboard,  where  we  heard  the  poor 
piggies'  dismal  squealings  mingling  with  the  roar 
of  the  wind  for  a  brief  moment.  Any  attempt  to 
rescue  them  was  of  course  out  of  the  question ; 
we  lost  the  cook's  galley  at  the  same  time.  On 
the  seventh  day  it  cleared  a  little,  sufficiently  to 
take  note  as  to  where  we  had  been  driven.  The 
captain  found  that  we  were  within  one  day's  sail 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  73 

of  Hong-Kong,  having  run  most  of  the  distance 
under  bare  poles.  It  was  considered  one  of  the 
quickest  trips  ever  known.  One  of  the  seven  that 
had  left  when  we  did,  an  English  barque,  went  on 
the  rocks  during  the  monsoon,  was  smashed  to 
pieces  and  all  hands  lost.  She  was  seen  by  another 
vessel  to  hang  out  signs  of  distress,  but  no  help 
could  be  given. 

It  was  sad  to  think  that  out  of  the  thirteen 
vessels  lying  in  the  port  of  Nui-Chwang,  six  only 
reached  Hong-Kong,  the  other  seven  all  being 
destroyed  in  less  than  a  fortnight.  For  ourselves, 
we  arrived  at  Hong-Kong  without  further  incident. 
It  was  Christmas  Eve,  I  remember,  and  the  men, 
true  sailor  fashion,  forgot  the  past  hardships  and 
sorrows  and  spent  Christmas  Day  in  eating  and 
drinking.  Hong-Kong  is  an  island,  a  pleasant, 
fertile,  gay  little  place,  as  it  is  frequented  by 
vessels  of  all  nationalities.  There  is  a  very  high 
mountain  or  peak,  called  Victoria  Hill,  over  which 
came  twice  a  number  of  pirates  and  rebels  from 
the  other  side  of  the  sea,  entering  Hong-Kong  at 
night,  securing  all  the  treasure,  murdering  the  in- 
habitants, and,  sacking  the  town,  left  it  in  flames  ; 
getting  away  back  over  the  mountain  and  into 
their  junks  before  the  Government  troops  and  gun- 
boats could  pursue  them. 

A  few  days  after  our  arrival,  we,  with  thousands 
of  people  on  both  sides  of  the  bay,  witnessed  the 
taking  of  a  pirate  junk  right  in  the  middle  of  the 
harbour.  A  short  time  previously,  the  watchmen 


74  BAUD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

on  two  separate  ships  had  been  found  murdered, 
the  captains  and  mates  bound  in  their  cabins,  and 
the  thieves  had  succeeded  in  escaping  with  the 
cargoes  and  everything  of  value.  They  were  dis- 
covered through  the  pluck  and  coolness  of  a  boy 
not  yet  fifteen  years  old,  in  the  following  manner. 
This  lad,  Hartmann,  belonged  to  a  Hamburg  barque 
then  anchored  in  the  bay.  There  were  some 
hundred  or  more  vessels  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and  amongst  them  a  great  number  of  six 
and  seven  masted  junks.  On  the  night  in  question, 
it  was  so  hot,  that  the  boy  got  out  of  his  bunk 
about  eleven  o'clock,  and  going  on  deck  looked  about 
for  some  cool  place  to  lie  down.  Observing  that 
the  sailor  on  watch  was  asleep,  he  crept  forward  to 
the  forecastle  and  coiled  himself  up  under  an  old 
sail.  He  had  not  been  there  long  before  he  heard 
sampans  moving  about,  but  as  this  was  a  common 
occurrence  he  paid  no  heed  to  it.  Suddenly  four 
Chinamen  appeared  over  the  bow  and  came  up  to 
the  sleeping  watchman.  Poor  fellow,  he  never 
woke  again  in  this  world,  for  a  pirate  split  open  his 
skull  with  great  dexterity,  and  he  died  before  he 
had  time  to  utter  a  sound  ;  they  then  all  four 
descended  into  the  cabin.  Hartmann  having 
witnessed  this  scene,  waited  until  the  pirates  had 
left  the  deck,  when  he  noiselessly  crawled  aft, 
passed  the  poor  murdered  watchman,  and  having 
let  himself  overboard  into  the  water,  dropped 
quietly  into  the  next  vessel.  He  lost  no  time  in 
rousing  the  men  to  whom  he  told  his  story.  Ten 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  75 

minutes  after  a  boat  was  manned,  and  they  were 
rowing  as  hard  as  they  could  to  give  information 
first  to  the  gunboats  and  then  to  the  towns. 
Some  of  the  gunboats  were  always  under  steam  in 
case  of  an  emergency ;  two  of  them  were  soon  hurry- 
ing up  to  the  scene  of  the  murder.  As  soon  as 
the  pirates  waiting  in  the  sampan  saw  the  gun- 
boats coming,  they  immediately  knew  that  some- 
how or  other  they  were  discovered.  The  alarm 
was  hastily  given  to  their  comrades  on  board  the 
barque,  who,  springing  into  the  sampan,  made  for 
their  junks,  hoping  to  escape.  But  the  gunboats 
were  too  quick  for  them,  and  opened  fire  upon  them 
as  they  were  attempting  to  get  away.  The  noise 
of  the  guns  had  awakened  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  various  towns,  who  came  trooping  out  in  the 
wildest  excitement.  It  was  brilliant  moonlight, 
and  I  remember  being  struck  by  the  contrast 
between  the  calm,  lovely  night,  the  moon  flooding 
land  and  ocean  with  almost  painful  glory,  and  the 
scene  of  carnage  going  on  below.  The  booming 
of  the  guns,  the  shrieks  of  the  wounded  and  dying, 
the  yells  of  the  lookers-on,  all  made  up  a  spectacle 
not  easily  to  be  forgotten.  The  two  gunboats 
blazed  away  at  the  junk  in  grand  style.  Many  of 
the  pirates  attempted  to  escape  by  their  boats,  but 
over  a  hundred  of  them  were  drowned  by  their 
sampans  capsizing.  Five  boats  did  succeed  in 
getting  away  from  the  junk,  and  were  pulling  for 
their  lives  to  try  and  gain  the  opposite  shore,  but 
by  this  time  the  beach  was  crowded  with  spectators 


76  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

who  fired  upon  them,  and  compelled  them  to  turn 
back.  The  two  gunboats  had  now  manned  their 
boats,  and  an  exciting  chase  ensued.  The  firing 
on  both  sides  was  hot  and  deadly.  The  pirates 
were  pursued  for  hours  up  and  down  and  across 
the  bay.  Finally  all  that  had  not  been  shot  or 
drowned  were  captured  and  soon  after  executed. 
The  gunboats  lost  only  three  men,  although  a 
great  many  were  wounded.  Hartmann,  as  you 
may  imagine  was  made  quite  a  hero  of,  and  his 
future  well  looked  after. 

The  Chinese  merchants  are  some  of  them  ex- 
tremely wealthy  men  and  have  no  small  power. 
One  of  them,  by  name  Jardine,  owned  a  whole 
fleet  of  European  vessels,  all  his  own.  His  riches 
were  fabulous.  One  of  the  islands  in  the  bay  was 
almost  entirely  composed  of  his  storehouses, 
watched  over  by  his  soldiers,  in  a  special  and 
private  uniform.  Captains  always  liked  to  trade 
with  him,  as  his  teas,  opium,  silks,  &c.,  were  all 
of  the  best,  and  they  could  therefore  get  higher 
prices  for  them. 

We  only  stayed  at  Hong-Kong  long  enough  to 
take  in  our  cargo  of  tea  and  fire-crackers,  after 
which  we  set  sail  for  New  York.  Our  captain  was 
certainly  one  of  the  worst  sailors  I  ever  met  with, 
for  the  pilot  had  not  left  us  half  an  hour  before  we 
went  ashore  on  the  rocks.  We  could  not  suppose 
that  he  had  done  it  purposely  this  time,  as  we  had 
a  tolerably  valuable  cargo  on  board.  After  im- 
mense trouble  we  managed  to  get  her  off,  and 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  77 

having  passed  a  thrumbed  sail  under  her  bottom, 
got  the  services  of  a  tug,  who  towed  us  up  to 
Whampoa,  where  we  had  to  go  into  dry-dock  for 
repairs.  It  was  found  that  she  had  broken  a  plate 
on  her  starboard  quarter  exactly  where  she  had 
once  been  repaired  before. 

Whampoa  is  a  dull  little  country  town,  built  on 
the  river,  and  looks  not  unlike  a  government  dock- 
yard on  a  very  small  scale.  The  only  thing  worthy 
of  note  seemed  to  be  the  extreme  cleverness  and 
ingenuity  with  which  the  natives  carried  out  their 
thefts.  So  expert  are  they,  that  they  have  been 
known  to  strip  two  or  three  sheets  of  copper  off  a 
ship's  bottom,  although  there  was  a  boat  contain- 
ing an  armed  watchman  both  ahead  and  astern. 
When  the  Peep-o'-Day  was  once  more  in  sailing 
order,  we  quickly  replaced  the  cargo  and  sailed 
down  the  river.  One  evening  when  we  had  entered 
the  China  Sea,  and  were  preparing  to  anchor  for 
the  night,  not  without  carefully  reconnoitring  as 

these  were  dangerous  parts,  Captain  J called 

us  all  up,  and  in  a  nervous  and  somewhat  lachry- 
mose manner  informed  us  of  what  we  already  knew, 
viz.,  that  we  were  in  waters  not  only  difficult  to 
navigate,  but  beset  with  pirates,  and  that  it  was 
very  doubtful  if  we  should  ever  reach  our  destina- 
tion. After  this  pleasing  and  inspiring  speech,  he 
provided  us  with  old  tower-muskets  and  cutlasses, 
informed  us  that  England  expected  every  man  to  do 
his  duty,  and  proceeded  to  do  his  by  going  to  his 
cabin,  where,  having  placed  two  loaded  revolvers 


78  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

on  the  table,  he  locked  himself  in,  and  proceeded  to 
get  drunk,  doubtless  in  order  to  keep  up  his  spirits. 
We  were  fully  alive  to  the  dangers  we  ran  from 
pirates ;  every  chain  and  rope  had  been  carefully 
taken  in  so  that  they  could  catch  hold  of  nothing ; 
we  went  about  armed  and  with  smothered  lanterns. 
About  eleven  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  captain's 
characteristic  speech,  I  was  on  watch  with  another 
man.  It  was  a  clear  moonlight  night,  very  still 
and  beautiful ;  a  slight  breeze  played  around  the 
masts.  We  had  anchored  some  time  before,  and 
Scott  and  I  were  lazily  talking  on  indifferent  sub- 
jects, when  suddenly,  without  changing  his  voice, 
he  nudged  me,  and  stealthily  pointed  to  leeward. 
There  were  six  pirate  boats  dropping  down  on  us. 
We  gave  the  alarm,  and  as  soon  as  the  boats  were 
abreast  of  us  we  fired  into  them,  both  Scott  and 
I  killed  our  man.  The  rest  of  the  crew  now  joined 
us,  and  helped  to  make  it  hot  for  the  enemy,  who, 
finding  they  were  getting  the  worst  of  it,  tried  to 
regain  their  ship.  Unfortunately  for  them,  they 
got  into  a  strong  current  which  swept  them  down 
in  an  opposite  direction.  Suddenly,  to  our  great 
surprise,  they  abandoned  all  attempt  to  reach  their 
ship  or  to  disable  us,  and  pulled  off  in  the  direction 
of  land  with  all  their  might.  Looking  ahead  of 
us  we  saw  two  Chinese  Government  Mandarin 
boats  coming  down  in  grand  style,  each  having 
fifty  men  at  the  oars.  They  commenced  firing  at 
the  pirate  boats  without  delay,  killing  many,  and 
pursuing  them  towards  land.  On  nearing  it, 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  79 

many  of  the  pirates  jumped  overboard  and  swam 
for  shore,  but  most  were  killed  before  reaching  it. 
Those  who  did  succeed  in  landing  ran  for  shelter 
to  the  paddy  (rice)  fields,  but  the  Mandarin  boats 
sent  men  out  to  set  fire  to  the  rice.  The  scene 
was  awful  and  grand  in  the  extreme,  the  flames  ran 
along  the  ground  with  fearful  rapidity,  burning  many 
of  the  poor  wretches  before  they  could  escape. 
Horrible  as  the  death  was,  it  was  doubtless  merci- 
ful compared  to  what  the  few  who  were  captured 
underwent  afterwards.  Daylight  began  before  the 
scene  of  carnage  was  over,  nor  did  we  wait  to  see 
the  end  of  it,  but,  weighing  anchor,  proceeded  on 
our  way.  Some  days  passed  on,  and  we  were  well 
out  at  sea  when  one  day  two  pirate  junks  were 
seen  waiting  to  interview  us,  one  at  each  bow.  To 

our  astonishment  and  relief,  Captain  J showed 

no  little  pluck  and  cleverness.  Having  crowded 
on  all  sail,  he  hoisted  the  English  ensign,  and 
loaded  the  two  guns,  and  a  breeze  springing  up  in 
our  favour,  he  ordered  us  to  stretch  up  as  if  we 
were  going  to  tackle  one  of  the  enemy.  The 
Peep-o'-Day,  having  been  so  lately  repaired,  sailed 
fairly  well ;  half-way  towards  the  first  junk  we 
squared  away  as  if  to  attack  the  second,  by  which 
manoeuvre  we  got  a  good  start  of  them,  and 
managed  to  keep  it,  as  the  wind  was  with  us,  but 
against  them  as  they  tried  to  close  on  us.  -We  gave 
the  last  fellow  one  of  our  big  guns,  damaging  him 
pretty  badly  to  judge  by  the  crash  of  timbers,  and 
the  fact  that  they  neither  returned  the  compliment 


80  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

or  attempted  to  continue  the  pursuit.  These  were 
the  last  pirates  we  saw.  We  were  now  in  the 
Malay  Archipelago,  and  pirates  seldom  if  ever 
venture  so  far,  so  the  captain  took  in  his  flag  and 
breathed  freely  once  more.  He  was  in  such  high 
good-humour  at  the  result  of  his  stratagem  that  he 
ordered  a  grog  for  all  the  crew,  and  himself  got 
gloriously  drunk.  It  was  here  that  I  saw  a  very 
fine  lunar  rainbow  of  a  pale  yellow  colour  ;  it  lasted 
some  time,  and  had  a  singular  and  most  beautiful 
effect. 

Nothing  of  importance  or  interest  happened 
until  we  were  nearing  St.  Helena.  Although  we 
were  on  the  look-out  for  the  island,  we  had  no  idea 
that  we  were  so  close  to  it :  the  first  intimation  we 
had  was  the  look-out  man  shouting  "  Land  a-head," 
and  then  we  could  plainly  hear  the  roar  of  the  surf, 
and  see  right  in  front  of  us,  looming  up  through 
the  mist,  a  very  high  peak  of  land.  Most  vessels 
land  there,  and  we  fully  expected  to  do  so,  the 
more  so  as  both  the  captain  and  second  mate  were 
suffering  from  fever  and  ague.  But  orders  were 
given  to  ease  away  at  once,  and  we  continued  our 
voyage  for  three  days  more,  when  we  sighted  As- 
cension Island,  and  after  a  few  hours  anchored  out- 
side some  of  the  most  beautiful  coral  reefs  I  ever 
saw.  Having  got  out  a  boat,  we  took  the  captain  and 
second  mate  ashore  to  try  the  effect  of  change  of 
air.  Whether  from  that,  or  any  other  cause,  they 
both  rapidly  recovered.  It  is  not  often  vessels  stop 
here ;  they  mostly  call  at  St.  Helena.  But  this  is 


A  VOYAGE  TO  (JHttfA.  81 

a  beautiful  island,  where  the  people  seemed  to  lead 
a  peaceful,  not  to  say  lazy,  life.  On  the  long,  low, 
level  beach  many  turtles  came  to  lay  their  eggs ; 
we  were  lucky  to  arrive  just  in  the  season  and  had 
a  real  feast  of  turtle  eggs  and  some  turtles  too  ; 
but  they  are  sent  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  The 
Government  men  appeared  to  have  nothing  to  do 
but  turn  over  the  turtles  when  they  had  caught 
them.  We  succeeded  in  catching  some  very  fine 
specimens  of  the  flying-fish  ;  one  or  two  measured 
over  two  feet  long,  and  had  four  pairs  of  wings. 
It  was  a  pretty  sight  to  see  them  skimming  above 
the  water,  seemingly  rejoicing  in  their  double 
power  of  flying  and  swimming. 

We  stayed  only  a  very  short  time  here,  as  the 
captain  was  in  a  hurry  to  get  to  New  York.  So 
one  fine  morning  we  set  sail  and  went  on ;  the 
weather  was  very  favourable,  the  men  all  well,  and 
Captain  J—  -  satisfied,  as  he  had  got  a  clean  bill 
of  health  from  Ascension  Island.  I  do  not  re- 
member anything  especially  worthy  of  note  ;  I  am 
sorry  I  was  not  a  better  observer  in  those  days. 
Sailors  see  so  many  wonderful  and  extraordinary 
sights,  that  they  are  astonished  at  nothing.  But 
to  return  to. my  narrative.  As  soon  as  we  neared 
New  York  we  signalled  for  a  pilot,  who,  coming  on 
board,  sailed  us  up  the  East  River  in  fine  style. 
The  scenery  was  beautiful  and  the  buildings  gigantic 
in  size  and  magnificent  in  form.  We  anchored  in 
the  stream  off  East  Eiver,  and  before  we  could  get 
on  shore  experienced  a  sand-storm.  Cloud  after 


82  HARD  LIFE  IN  T&E  COLONIES. 

cloud  of  sand  came  swooping  down  from  the  land 
in  immense  columns,  driving  everything  before 
them.  The  decks  were  soon  deserted,  for  the 
sand  cuts  like  a  knife.  It  lasted  an  hour  or  more, 
blowing  with  terrible  violence ;  when  it  was  ended 
there  were  some  inches  of  fine  gritty  sand  on 
everything.  After  the  storm  was  over  we  went  to 
our  pier,  No.  46,  in  the  North  Eiver,  and  on  the 
way,  short  though  the  distance  was,  were  nearly 
all  killed,  which  shows  that  as  much  danger  lies 
near  the  shore  as  in  mid-ocean.  It  was  full  tide, 
and  a  steamer  full  of  passengers  came  steaming 
right  down  upon  us.  Before  we  could  get  out  of 
her  way,  or  she  out  of  ours,  she  struck  us  with 
great  violence  in  the  bow.  She  did  us  very  little 
damage  considering  the  force  with  which  she  came 
upon  us.  Had  she  struck  us  amidship,  as  she  was 
pointed,  she  would  have  cut  us  in  two  without  the 
smallest  doubt ;  as  it  was,  the  man  at  the  wheel 
had  time  to  sheer  her  off  a  little,  with  the  above 
result.  She  carried  away  our  flying-jib-boom  and 
fore-top-gallant-mast,  which  was  nothing  compared 
to  the  damage  she  did  herself,  for  the  collision 
made  a  clean  sweep  of  her.  All  the  starboard  rig- 
ging, davits,  boats,  masts,  and  funnel  were  torn  off 
with  a  fearful  crash.  The  passengers  all  crowded 
to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and  a  waiter  coming 
out  of  the  saloon  was  so  terrified  that  he  jumped 
overboard,  and  no  one  having  time  to  look  after 
him,  he  was  drowned.  The  man  at  the  wheel  was 
killed  by  a  blow  from  one  of  the  falling  masts,  but 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA*  88 

beyond  those  two  deaths  there  were  no  fatal  acci* 
dents,  which,  considering  the  gravity  of  the  disaster, 
was  really  marvellous.  The  steamer  did  not  stop 
or  even  turn  back,  but  continued  her  way,  and  we 

soon  lost  sight  of  her.     Captain  J got  a  new 

foremast  and  jib-boom  out  of  the  steamer's  com- 
pany, though  he  had  no  earthly  right  to  demand  it, 
there  being  no  injury  to  life  that  had  happened  to 
any  one  on  board  the  Peep-o'-Day.  But  he  asked 
for  it,  they  gave  it  to  him,  and  he  was  immensely 
elated  at  what  he  called  a  good  stroke  of  business. 
There  was  no  little  excitement  in  the  harbour 
at  the  departure  of  the  Red,  White  and  Blue,  a 
small  boat  of  only  three  tons  burden  which  sailed 
from  New  York  to  cross  the  Atlantic.  She  was  a 
lovely  thing,  but  like  a  toy,  being  fully  rigged  like 
a  large  vessel,  and  sailed  down  the  river  with  her 
three  top-sails  set  amidst  such  cheers  and  thunders 
of  applause  as  had  rarely  been  heard.  Every  one 
knows  how  the  gallant  little  craft  made  the  voyage 
in  safety  and  was  afterwards  exhibited  at  the 
Paris  Exhibition.  The  life  and  traffic  on  North 
Elver  were  something  tremendous ;  everything  was 
on  such  an  enormous  scale.  The  warehouses 
covered  immense  pieces  of  ground,  and  so  close  to 
the  water's  edge  that  many  of  the  jib-booms  of 
ships  anchored  there,  touched  the  windows  and 
roofs.  The  river  itself  teemed  with  vessels  of 
every  sort,  size,  description  and  nationality, 
Floating  mills  carry  on  their  work  as  though  on 
shore,  and  the  beautiful  Mississippi  passenger  boats 


84  BAUD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

come  steaming  grandly  along  looking  like  some 
huge  mass  of  white  buildings  floating  on  the  water. 
But  New  York  is  too  well  known  nowadays  to 
need  any  description.  At  the  time  I  am  writing 
of,  the  American  war  had  just  ended,  and  the 
whole  country  was  in  a  most  unsettled  state. 
There  was  literally  no  law  at  all,  except  the  law 
that  Eight  is  Might,  by  which  the  weakest  of 
course  went  to  the  wall.  It  was  not  safe  to  go  out 
with  a  decent  coat  on — any  man  doing  so  ran  a 
good  chance  of  being  assaulted  and  robbed  of  it, 
and  might  think  himself  lucky  if  he  escaped  with 
his  life.  I  have  seen  German  policemen  shot 
down  in  the  open  streets  in  broad  daylight  by  the 
free  negroes  and  Irish  roughs,  and  no  notice  taken 
of  it,  the  dead  bodies  simply  carried  away  and  a 
double  number  of  men  put  in  their  place.  I  have 
seen  a  whole  cargo  of  splendid  wines  from  France 
broken  into  by  a  gang  of  these  roughs,  who  would 
tap  various  barrels,  and  if  they  were  not  to  their 
taste  would  let  the  wine  run  away  while  they  tapped 
another  cask.  And  the  policemen  dared  not  inter- 
fere— indeed  they  took  good  care  to  be  out  of  the 
way,  for  a  policeman's  life  was  not  worth  a  breath. 
I  have  seen  a  carpenter,  for  refusing  to  lend  some 
of  his  tools  to  some  negroes  for  the  purpose  of 
opening  a  brandy  cask,  seized  by  four  of  these 
fiends,  who  tied  a  rope  under  his  armpits,  threw 
him  overboard,  and  dragged  him  up  and  down  in 
the  water  until  he  was  dead.  No  one  interfered, 
the  negroes  had  it  all  their  own  way  in  those  days, 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  85 

I  have  seen  a  dozen  or  so  of  these  tall,  lanky 
blacks  come  down  to  the  wharves  where  the  cotton 
bales  were  discharging,  and  sitting  on  them  pick  a 
hole  and  begin  stuffing  the  cotton  into  their  big, 
long  calico  coats  and  loose  trousers  until  they 
swelled  out  like  giants,  when  they  would  walk 
away  unmolested  by  the  public.  Why  should  they 
interfere  ?  it  was  not  their  business.  They  have 
even  been  known  to  bring  down  a  large  dray  with 
two  horses,  pile  it  up  with  cotton,  and  coolly  drive 
off  with  the  load  into  the  city,  where  they  sold  it, 
nobody  venturing  to  ask  how  they  came  by  it. 
But  their  favourite  mode  of  proceeding  was  to  take 
a  boat  alongside  the  wharf  just  underneath  where 
the  bales  were  placed,  and  to  fill  their  boat  with 
cotton,  which  they  would  land  a  little  further 
down  the  same  wharf,  some  returning  for  more, 
while  others  carried  what  was  landed  into  the  city. 
Every  vessel  had  a  well-armed  watchman,  but 
they  were  frequently  overpowered  and  murdered, 
and  it  was  an  every  evening's  occurrence  to  hear 
an  interchange  of  pistol  and  rifle  shots  going  on  in 
the  harbour  and  on  the  wharf.  In  the  city  things 
were  not  much  better;  every  gentleman's  residence 
was  guarded  by  ten  or  twelve  watchmen,  and  no 
one  ventured  out  unarmed.  Murders  were  as 
common  as  paving-stones,  and  although  in  many 
cases  the  criminals  were  caught  red-handed,  the 
magistrates  dared  not  hang  them,  or  their  own 
lives  would  not  have  been  worth  an  hour's  pur- 
chase. It  was  a  terrible  state  of  things,  so  much 


80  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

misery  and  crime  in  the  midst  of  so  much  magnifi- 
cence and  grandeur.  I  was  walking  about  the 
wharf  one  day  and  went  up  to  a  fruit-stall  to  buy 
some  fruit.  The  old  lady  hearing  I  had  been  to 
China,  had  in  fact  just  come  from  there,  anxiously 
asked  me  if  I  had  not  met  her  son,  who  was  some- 
where there.  When  I  informed  her  that  I  had  not 
had  that  pleasure  she  expressed  much  astonishment 
and  surprise,  and  evidently  suspected  that  for  some 
dark  reason  of  my  own  I  was  not  telling  her  the 
truth.  She  kept  looking  at  me  askance  and  re- 
peating, "  Bin  to  Chinny  and  not  seen  my  Tom ! 
Wall,  I  guess  I  never  heard  anything  like  that ;  " 
and  all  my  explanations  failed  to  convince  her 
that  it  was  anything  but  most  unheard-of  on  my 
part  not  to  have  met  him,  to  say  nothing  of  my 
bad  taste.  I  could  never  get  her  to  accept  any  of 
the  friendly  advances  I  made  her,  and  I  should 
not  be  surprised  if  at  the  bottom  of  her  heart  she 
did  not  suspect  me  of  doing  away  somehow  or  other 
with  her  Tom.  Poor  old  soul,  it  was  very  probable 
that  her  son  had  fallen  a  victim  either  to  dysentery 
or  the  pirates. 

Having  discharged  our  cargo,  we  prepared  to 
go  over  to  New  Jersey  to  take  in  petroleum  for 
England ;  but  the  night  before  we  anchored  there, 
a  most  frightful  conflagration  took  place.  Hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  barrels  of  oil  were  consumed,  the 
whole  wharf  destroyed,  and  half  the  lower  part 
of  the  town.  Many  ships  were  burnt  at  their 
moorings,  and  the  water-police  having  cut  away 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  87 

some  of  these  burning  vessels,  they  floated  down 
the  stream,  getting  entangled  with  others  and 
setting  them  also  on  fire.  Quantities  of  river  boats 
or  lighters,  full  of  raw  crude  oil,  took  fire,  they 
had  families  of  women  and  children  on  board  whom 
it  was  impossible  to  rescue.  It  was  an  appalling 
and  heartrending  sight  to  see  the  poor  creatures 
running  from  side  to  side  imploring  help,  with 
little  babes  in  their  arms  and  young  children  at 
their  skirts.  It  was  impossible  to  get  anywhere 
near  them,  for  the  stream  was  one  sheet  of 
devouring  flame.  The  shrieks  of  the  dying  and 
screams  of  the  women  rose  above  the  roar  of  the 
fire.  God  grant  I  may  never  witness  anything  so 
fearful  in  my  life  again.  Several  people  went  mad 
with  the  sight,  and  strong  men  sickened  and  fainted. 
The  oil  burnt  on  the  water  almost  as  well  as  on 
land,  and  in  both  places  burnt  with  such  fury 
and  power  that  the  people  almost  gave  up  trying 
to  save  any  one  or  anything,  it  seemed  so  hopeless. 
This  oil  is  almost  as  dangerous  as  gunpowder,  yet 
these  families  fetch  it  down  from  up-country  in 
open  boats,  along  canals,  drawn  by  horses  doing 
all  their  cooking  with  careless  indifference  to,  or 
ignorance  of,  the  awful  danger  they  run.  This  fire 
delayed  us  some  weeks  in  procuring  our  cargo. 
The  crew  were  so  terrified  at  the  disaster  that  they 
felt  inclined  to  cut  and  run  when  they  knew  that 
the  captain  intended  to  ship  petroleum,  but  having 
been  out  over  two  years  on  this  voyage,  they  had  a 
good  deal  of  money  due  to  them,  and  thought 


88  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

better  of  it,  all  but  two  who  gave  us  the  slip  the 
day  before  we  sailed. 

There  was  a  brig  called  the  Telegraph  that 
had  sailed  with  us  from  England,  had  followed  us 
all  over  China  and  now  to  New  York,  getting 
the  same  cargoes  and  passing  through  the  same 
dangers.  We  had  become  quite  friendly,  and 
always  hailed  each  other  like  old  acquaintances. 
She  now  loaded  with  petroleum  the  same  as  we 
did.  The  strictest  orders  were  given  about 
smoking,  it  being  absolutely  prohibited;  and  the 
cook  did  all  his  business  ashore,  for  if  a  spark  had 
touched  the  escaping  gas,  it  would  have  blown  us 
all  into  eternity  in  less  than  a  minute.  The  casks 
of  oil  were  most  carefully  stowed,  trestles  being 
placed  under  each  one  to  keep  them  in  place,  and 
to  prevent  the  upper  casks  from  pressing  on  the 
lower  ones,  which  might  open  the  seams,  and  the 
oil  escaping,  the  vessel  would  become  top-heavy 
and  she  would  run  a  good  chance  of  capsizing. 
The  captain  of  the  Telegraph  laughed  at  our  extra 
care ;  he  had  not  stowed  his  oil  away  with  such 
precautions,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  set  out  on 
the  homeward  journey  a  day  before  we  did,  but  he 
must  bitterly  have  repented  of  his  carelessness 
before  many  days  were  over.  He  dined  with 
Captain  J—  -  the  day  he  left,  a  fine,  big,  good- 
natured  Cornishman.  "  Good-bye ;  we  shall  be 
home  before  you,"  he  cried  from  his  boat  as  his 
men  pulled  him  to  his  brig.  They  were,  but  not 
the  home  he  meant, 


A  VOYAGE  TO  CHINA.  89 

The  day  after  the  Telegraph  left,  we  were  towed 
down  the  river,  and  set  sail  for  England.  That 
cargo  was  the  bane  of  our  lives  ;  it  was  like  working- 
over  a  powder  magazine  the  whole  way.  Once 
we  sighted  the  Telegraph  and  signalled  greetings. 
Soon  after  an  easterly  gale  came  on,  and  the  Peep- 
o'-Day  plunged  and  tossed,  and  we  were  all  in  a 
panic  about  the  oil,  but,  thanks  to  the  trestles,  the 
casks  stood  firm ;  on  examination  when  the  gale 
was  over,  we  found  all  safe  and  in  order.  We  were 
sailing  along  smoothly  and  comfortably,  when  the 
"  look-out  "  sighted  an  object ;  we  steered  towards 
it,  and  saw  to  our  sorrow  that  it  was  our  old  friend 
the  Telegraph  floating  bottom  upwards.  She  had 
evidently  become  top-heavy  during  the  gale,  from 
the  bad  stowage  of  her  cargo,  capsized  and  all 
hands  lost.  We  continued  our  way,  saddened  and 
depressed  for  a  time,  but  recovered  as  we  neared 
England.  We  made  the  voyage  in  thirty-six  days, 
but  it  took  us  twenty-one  to  beat  up  Channel  in  the 
teeth  of  an  easterly  wind,  but  finally  we  had  the 
felicity  of  anchoring  off  Gravesend,  and  soon  after 
were  towed  into  the  St.  Catherine's  Docks.  Pay 
day  came  in  due  course,  where  our  estimable 
friend  Captain  J 's  last  meanness  was  ex- 
posed. Most  of  the  crew  being  unable  to  write,  I 
had  done  so  for  them  and  they  had  then  been  de- 
livered to  the  captain  for  postage,  for  which  he 
charged  when  paying  them  off.  But  several  of  them 
soon  found  out  from  their  wives  and  sweethearts 
that  he  had  never  stamped  them,  and  they  hacl 


90  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES, 

been  obliged  to  pay  double  postage.  I  don't  know 
how  it  ended,  I  left  them  disputing  about  it,  but  I 
think  never  did  a  captain  and  his  crew  part  with 

less  cordiality  than  did  Captain  J and  his  men. 

For  my  part  I  saw  no  more  of  Captain  J ,  nor 

have  I  ever  heard  what  became  of  him, 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND 
CALCUTTA. 

TU7HEN  I  was  quite  a  youngster,  I  started  with 
VV  two  other  middies  on  board  one  of  Money 
Wigram's  ships,  the  Yorkshire.  She  was  a  fine 
vessel,  half  clipper,  half  frigate,  but  so  beautifully 
built  and  proportioned  that  it  was  a  real  pleasure 
to  see  her  on  the  water.  We  left  from  Plymouth, 
where  we  took  in  passengers,  and  then  sailed  on 
for  Melbourne.  Money  Wigram's  ships  go  no- 
where but  from  London  to  Melbourne  and  back. 
The  wind  being  in  our  favour  we  got  on  splendidly 
for  several  days,  and  the  first  exciting  thing  that 
happened  was  the  madness  of  one  of  the  crew, 
who  became  suddenly  and  violently  insane.  He 
was  half-Italian,  half-Irish,  a  bad  mixture  at  any 
time,  and  aggravated  in  this  case  by  the  fact  that 
the  man  suffered  from  chronic  neuralgia.  When 
the  pain  was  on,  he  would  sit,  with  his  two  hands 
pressed  to  his  head,  glaring  before  him.  If  any 
one  came  near  to  offer  consolation  or  suggest 
remedies,  he  would  answer,  without  moving  or 
even  turning  his.eyes,  "Don't  pity  me;  if  you 
value  your  life,  don't  pity  me."  The  surgeon  took 
him  in  hand,  and  seemed  at  first  to  have  sue* 


92  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

ceeded  in  alleviating  the  pain,  but  one  day  when 
no  one  thought  anything  more  about  him,  he 
suddenly  jumped  on  to  the  poop  with  a  dagger  in 
one  hand  and  a  Bible  in  the  other.  Seeing  what 
had  happened,  the  captain  and  surgeon  tried  to 
coax  him  down,  as  many  lady  passengers  were 
about.  But  in  vain ;  the  unfortunate  man  began 
to  preach  a  really  powerful  sermon  on  the  sin  and 
sorrow  in  the  world,  and  offered  to  stab  to  the 
heart  every  one  on  board,  that  they  might  be  freed 
from  the  torment  of  living.  Some  of  the  ladies 
were  nearly  frightened  into  fits,  particularly  when, 
discarding  his  Bible,  he  began  to  dance  a  jig, 
waving  his  dagger  about  wildly.  The  mate  crept 
up  the  rigging  behind  him — while  the  surgeon 
drew  the  madman's  attention  to  himself — and 
threw  a  bow-line  over  him,  by  which  he  was 
secured  and  confined.  The  poor  fellow  never  re- 
covered; he  was  placed  in  a  lunatic  asylum  at 
Melbourne,  and,  I  believe,  died  soon  after  his 
entrance. 

Neptune  came  on  board  at  the  Line,  but  it  is 
needless  to  describe  so  well  known  a  ceremony. 
When  we  were  a  month  out,  the  "  Dead  Horse 
Night "  was  celebrated,  a  singular  and  curious 
scene  of  great  interest.  An  animal  in  the  shape 
of  a  horse  is  rigged  up  by  sewing  sacks  together 
and  stuffing  them  with  straw.  The  whole  is 
covered  with  brown  blankets,  tail  and  ears  not 
being  forgotten.  One  of  the  seamen  personates 
an  old  farmer,  and  is  dressed  in  character.  Two 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.         93 

farm  labourers  attend  him,  to  assist  in  reining- 
in  the  fiery  steed.  Everything  being  ready,  the 
horse  is  drawn  three  times  around  the  main-deck 
by  the  two  farm  boys  with  innumerable  "  whoas  " 
and  sundry  blows  over  the  head  with  thick  sticks. 
The  old  farmer  is  on  his  back,  and  it  requires  no 
small  skill  to  keep  his  equilibrium,  so  prodigious 
are  the  bounds  of  the  fierce  animal.  .  The  sailors 
follow,  singing  dolefully : 

"Oh,  poor  old  man  ! 

Your  horse  will  die, 
And  I  say  so,  and  I  hope  so  ! 

Oh,  poor  old  man, 

Your  horse  will  die  1  " 

After  the  third  round  he  is  brought  to  a  standstill 
on  the  quarter-deck,  where  all  the  passengers  and 
crew  are  collected,  and  put  up  to  auction.  After 
some  spirited  bargaining  it  is  knocked  down  to  the 
highest  bidder.  A  dark  night  is  generally  chosen 
for  this  performance  as  it  heightens  the  effect  of 
the  "  death  of  the  horse."  The  chief  officer  gets 
into  one  of  the  quarter-boats  and  sets  fire  to  a 
quantity  of  blue  lights,  which  burn  with  ghastly 
effect  in  the  blackness  of  the  night.  A  tackle  is 
then  fastened  to  the  horse,  and  he  is  slowly  hoisted 
over  the  ship's  side,  away  out  to  the  yard-arm, 
with  a  sailor  on  his  back.  All  the  other  sailors 
follow,  singing  their  mournful  ditty.  As  soon  as 
the  yard-arm  is  reached,  the  mounted  sailor  cuts 
away  the  "  dead  horse  "  from  under  him.  It  looks 


94  SARD  LtVE  Itf  T&E  COLONIES. 

a  frightfully  perilous  position — by  the  glare  of  the1 
blue  lights,  the  man  is  seen  suspended  in  mid-air, 
over  the  black  waters,  with  no  apparent  support, 
not  even  a  rope  to  cling  to.  As  soon  as  the  sea 
receives  the  "  dead  horse,"  the  sailor,  with  cat-like 
ease,  comes  on  deck,  when  the  passengers  gene- 
rally make  up  a  purse  for  the  crew,  which  is  pre- 
sented to  the  old  farmer  by  the  highest  bidder  at 
the  time  of  knocking  down.  The  meaning  of  this 
ceremony  is  as  follows  :  Sailors,  as  a  rule,  obtain  a 
month's  pay  in  advance  before  joining  their  ships, 
therefore  they  are  working  the  whole  of  the  first 
month  for  nothing.  Drowning  the  "  dead  horse  " 
is  in  token  that  they  have  done  with  that  money- 
less month,  and  are  now  beginning  to  work  for 
pay. 

Soon  after  the  "  dead  horse  "  ceremony  we  had 
a  birth  on  board,  a  woman  among  the  steerage 
passengers.  Every  one  made  a  great  deal  of  her 
and  the  baby,  who  was  really  a  jolly  little  chap 
by  the  time  we  reached  Melbourne.  A  young 
married  couple  had  come  aboard  at  Gravesend; 
they  were  the  most  loving  pair  I  ever  saw — one 
always  came  across  them  cuddled  close  together 
in  some  little  sheltered  nook.  The  young  man 
looked  delicate,  but  every  one  was  surprised  and 
shocked  at  hearing  one  morning  that  he  was 
sinking  fast,  and  could  not  live  out  the  day.  He 
died  the  same  evening,  and  the  next  day  was 
buried.  I  never  saw  anything  so  heart-breaking 
as  the  expression  on  the  face  of  the  poor  little  wife 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.      05 

during  the  reading  of  the  burial  service.  She 
looked  from  one  face  to  the  other  with  utter 
bewilderment,  but  when  the  sailors  lifted  up  the 
body  to  put  overboard,  she  gave  a  cry  like  a  wild 
animal  and  had  to  be  dragged  away  by  force. 
Every  one  was  very  kind  to  her,  but  she  seemed 
to  care  for  nothing,  and  it  was  pitiable  to  see  her 
sitting  alone  day  after  day  in  the  little  nooks  that 
they  used  to  be  in  together.  We  brought  her 
back  with  us  on  our  return  trip,  the  captain  giving 
her  a  free  passage.  Another  sad  death  occurred 
after  we  had  arrived  in  Hobson's  Bay.  A  lady 
going  out  to  join  her  husband  had  been  sea-sick 
the  whole  voyage,  and  was  reduced  to  such  a  state 
of  weakness  that  she  was  carried  on  deck  to  meet 
her  husband,  who  had  come  in  a  boat  to  take  her 
to  his  own  large  steamship,  to  which  he  had  just 
been  promoted.  We  saw  a  little  commotion  and 
confusion,  and  were  horrified  to  hear  that  she  had 
died  in  her  husband's  arms  before  they  had  spoken 
a  word  to  each  other. 

We  went  on  to  the  Canary  Isles.  When  we 
were  some  distance  off,  long  before  we  could  see 
land,  we  witnessed  a  splendid  mirage  of  the  country. 
It  was  the  best  optical  atmospheric  illusion  I  ever 
saw,  the  shore,  the  trees,  and  the  city  with  the 
houses  clearly  defined.  It  was  difficult  to  believe 
but  that  up  there  in  the  sky  this  wondrous  country 
was  not  really  fixed.  We  landed  at  the  Isles  to 
take  in  bullocks,  as  we  had  run  short  of  beef, 
Funny  little  fellows  they  were,  not  larger  than  a 


96  BAUD  Ll$E  IN  T&E  COLON  IE  S> 

good-sized  English  sheep,  some  even  not  biggei4 
than  a  dog.  They  were  most  delicious  eating, 
being  tender  and  juicy,  and  much  appreciated  by 
the  passengers.  A  large  quantity  of  ducks  were 
obtained  here,  and  the  captain,  a  good-hearted 
man,  thinking  to  give  the  sailors  a  treat,  ordered 
ducks  for  them  all ;  but  his  well-meant  kindness 
was  a  failure,  for  they  only  growled,  wanting  to 
know  "  Who  ever  heard  of  ducks  without  green 
peas  ?  "  and  this  hundreds  of  miles  from  any  land. 
I  only  know  we  middies  rejoiced  in  them,  and  soon 
put  ourselves  outside  a  duck  apiece,  with  infinite 
satisfaction.  Sailors  are  proverbial  grumblers 
about  trifles,  though  it  must  be  allowed  that  they 
will  put  up  with  terrible  hardships  when  necessary, 
without  a  murmur. 

One  morning  whilst  I  was  assisting  the  sail- 
maker,  who  was  doing  some  repairs  to  the  mizzen- 
royal-sail,  I  was  watching  the  passengers  on  the 
deck  instead  of  attending  to  the  instructions  being 
given  to  me,  when  a  sudden  lurch  of  the  ship  shot 
me  clean  off  my  airy  seat,  and  I  fell,  striking  the 
shrouds,  rebounding  from  that  straight  into  the 
sea.  The  man  at  the  wheel,  who  saw  this  involun- 
tary gymnastic  performance,  had  the  wit  and  sang- 
froid to  throw  over  to  me  the  main-brace,  which, 
directly  I  came  up  from  my  plunge,  I  grabbed  hold 
of  and  hung  on  to  for  grim  life.  It  was  a  horrible 
experience.  I  was  nearly  dragged  to  pieces  before 
he  could  haul  me  up,  as  he  was  obliged  first  to  stop 
the  vessel.  One  moment  I  felt  I  must  give  way, 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOUBNE  AND  CALCUTTA.         97 

the  strain  was  so  great,  and  my  hands  were  all 
torn  and  bleeding,  but  the  cry  "  Man  overboard !  " 
had  brought  many  willing  hands,  and  I  was  finally 
deposited  on  deck,  where  I  fainted  like  a  woman, 
much  to  my  after  disgust,  as  it  served  as  an  end- 
less source  of  amusement  to  the  other  middies, 
who  were  never  tired  of  teazing  me  about  it ;  the 
more  so  as  some  of  the  lady  passengers  took  me  up 
and  made  a  good  deal  of  me,  one  attending  to  my 
torn  paws  like  a  true  sister  of  mercy.  The  hang- 
ing on  to  the  main-brace  was,  however,  no  easy 
thing  to  do.  I  saw  a  man  drowned  in  that  way  on 
one  of  my  after  voyages  to  India.  He  held  on 
bravely  for  a  while,  but  before  we  could  rescue  him 
he  shouted  out,  "  Good-bye,  mates,"  let  go,  and 
was  sucked  under  the  vessel.  We  were  going,  as 
in  my  case,  at  a  speed  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour. 
This  happened  a  short  time  before  entering  Port 
Phillip,  where  it  was  put  out  of  my  head  by  a  catch 
of  very  fine  horse  mackerel.  They  were  a  great 
treat  to  every  one.  On  board  a  vessel,  particularly 
when  on  a  long  voyage,  every  trifle  assumes 
immense  proportions.  Having  entered  Port 
Phillip  Heads,  we  signalled  for  a  pilot,  and  soon  a 
tug-boat  with  the  pilot  on  board  of  her  came  along- 
side and  towed  us  into  Sandridge  Pier,  a  very 
fine  piece  of  work,  some  seven  or  eight  miles  from 
the  city  of  Melbourne.  No  ships  can  go  nearer, 
although  the  river  Yarra-Yarra  runs  into  the  midst 
of  the  town,  as  the  water  is  so  shallow  that  only 
barges  and  small  boats  can  ply  up  and  down.  The 

8 


98  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

city  of  Melbourne  is  too  well  known  to  need 
description.  Its  Houses  of  Parliament,  Post 
Offices,  Town  Hall,  and  Parks  are  not  to  be  sur- 
passed in  any  of  the  great  European  cities.  We 
stayed  here  three  weeks  when  taking  in  our  stores, 
freight,  and  passengers,  were  towed  out  to  the 
Heads,  and  set  sail  for  England.  The  poor  little 
widow  continued  to  seek  out  the  nooks  where  she 
and  her  husband  used  to  be  together,  and  did  not 
seem  at  all  able  to  get  over  her  grief.  We  had 
favourable  weather,  and  no  accidents  of  any  sort, 
nor  any  encounters  of  interest  until  we  neared 
Cape  Horn.  Here  we  came  to  immense  fields  of 
ice  and  tremendous  icebergs.  These  vast  moun- 
tains of  floating  ice  are  wonderfully  beautiful,  and 
of  every  fantastic  shape ;  cathedrals,  palaces,  old 
ruins,  giants  and  forests.  Picturesque,  indeed, 
but  terribly  dangerous,  and  requiring  most  careful 
navigation  to  avoid  striking  against  them,  par- 
ticularly during  the  night.  Nevertheless  our 
captain  kept  his  ship  going  ahead  under  double- 
reefed  top-sails,  although  we  passed  several  vessels 
who  were  anchored,  fearing  to  be  run  down,  or 
otherwise  damaged  by  these  icebergs.  The  cold 
was  most  intense,  the  hail  coming  down  some- 
times with  such  force  as  to  cut  the  flesh  like  a 
knife.  Often  at  night  all  hands  would  be  called 
up  to  shorten  sail.  It  was  really  horrible  to  leave 
the  warm  bunk  and  go  up  on  deck.  Every  man 
was  given  a  "  tot "  of  raw  Jamaica  rum,  11°  above 
proof,  and  having  tossed  that  down  went  out  to 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.        99 

the  rigging.  It  being  wire  rigging,  and  covered 
with  a  thick  coating  of  ice,  acted  almost  like  an 
electric  machine  when  yon  touched  it.  On  you 
go  up  aloft,  tumbling  one  over  the  other  in  the 
dense  darkness,  and  having  got  over  the  tops  reach 
the  yards  and  lay  out  to  gather  up  the  sail,  tearing 
off  your  finger  nails  in  the  endeavour  to  haul  in 
the  frozen  sails  bellying  out  every  minute  in  the 
furious  gale  of  wind  and  hail.  I  have  seen  great, 
bearded  men  sit  in  the  tops  so  benumbed  with  the 
cold  that  other  sailors,  not  being  able  to  see  them, 
would  trample  on  them  in  the  dark  without  their 
having  either  the  energy  or  strength  to  resist  or 
move  out  of  the  way.  The  Yorkshire  was  so 
strained  going  round  the  Horn  on  this  voyage, 
that  we  were  at  the  pumps  the  whole  way  to 
England. 

A  very  sad  occurrence  took  place  a  week  or  so 
before  we  sailed  into  England.  One  of  the  lady 
passengers  in  the  second  cabin  had  a  handsome 
little  boy  about  four  or  five  years.  He  was  a  great 
pet  with  all  on  board  with  all  classes,  he  was  taken 
ill  and,  after  a  two  days'  illness,  died.  Every  one 
felt  for  the  parents ;  it  was  an  only  child,  and 
they  were  taking  him  home  to  show  their  people, 
who  were  farmers  in  Cumberland,  I  believe.  The 
carpenter  made  a  little  wooden  box,  full  of  holes, 
so  that  the  water  might  rush  in  and  sink  it.  The 
captain  read  the  burial  service,  which  seems  so 
impressive  at  sea,  and  I  am  sure  there  was  not  a 
dry  eye  on  board.  The  service  ended,  the  body 


100  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

was  tilted  over  the  side  of  the  vessel  on  a  plank, 
when,  instead  of  sinking  immediately,  it  floated. 
A  large  shark  that  had  he  en  following  us  ever 
since  little  Frank's  illness — indeed  they  always  do 
when  any  one  is  going  to  die — suddenly  attacked 
the  hox,  smashed  it  open,  tore  the  child  out,  and 
ate  it  before  the  eyes  of  the  mother  and  father. 
Her  maddened,  agonized  shrieks  were  heart- 
rending, and  it  was  impossible  to  tear  her  from 
the  spot.  Her  husband,  white  and  shaking  from 
agitation,  tried  to  calm  her,  but  in  vain  ;  she  tried 
to  jump  overboard,  and  was  for  the  time  quite 
insane,  although  she  ultimately  recovered  her 
senses.  It  was  a  most  painful  scene,  and  threw 
a  gloom  over  the  whole  of  us,  which  lasted  until 
we  reached  England  again. 

After  two  more  voyages  to  Melbourne  in  the 
Yorkshire,  I  joined  the  Enterprise  as  third  officer, 
then  going  to  Calcutta.  Most  of  our  saloon 
passengers  were  officers  going  to  join  their 
respective  regiments  in  different  parts  of  India ; 
many  of  them  had  their  wives  with  them.  They 
were  a  gay  lot,  up  to  every  fun  and  mischief, 
dressing  up  like  a  lot  of  school-boys,  and  playing 
tricks  that  would  not  have  disgraced  a  monkey 
colony.  But  some  theatricals  they  got  up  were 
very  successful  and  entertaining,  and  they  certainly 
kept  us  all  alive.  We  were  racing  another  East 
Indiaman,  the  Punjab,  all  the  voyage,  and  many 
were  the  bets  made  as  to  which  vessel  would  run 
in  to  Calcutta  first,  Every  man,  woman,  and 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA,     loi 

child  on  board  took  a  keen  interest  in  the  race, 
and  discussed  it  with  a  gravity  and  sometimes 
warmth  worthy  of  a  better  cause.  I  may  mention 
here  that  we  had  the  felicity  of  beating  the  Punjab 
by  six  hours,  and  the  joy  was  as  great  as  though 
we  had  won  a  mighty  victory. 

A  curious  incident  occurred  after  we  had  been 
out  a  couple  of  weeks.  One  night  as  we  were 
running  under  full  sail  with  a  favourable  wind, 
the  fore-mast,  suddenly  and  without  the  smallest 
warning,  sank  fully  four  inches,  and  was  conse- 
quently in  considerable  danger  of  going  overboard, 
as  it  loosened  all  the  rigging  with  it.  Every 
seaman  was  called  up  at  once  to  take  in  sail  and 
set  up  the  rigging,  which  was  not  accomplished 
until  midday.  The  delay  caused  by  this  accident 
enabled  the  Punjab  to  pass  us,  but  we  soon  got  up 
to  her  again,  and  used  to  sight  her  at  intervals  of 
two  or  three  weeks.  It  was  discovered  that  the 
famous  mast  had  never  been  properly  "sent 
home  "  into  the  keelstone  by  the  riggers,  and  the 
heavy  rolling  had  displaced  it.  However,  as  it 
happened,  no  great  damage  was  done,  though  it 
might  have  proved  a  most  serious  business.  This 
voyage  was  almost  without  incident  or  accident  of 
any  sort.  A  shark  or  two  caught,  a  small  storm 
now  and  then,  or  a  calm,  was  all  that  marked  our 
days,  and  but  for  the  officers  and  the  constant  look- 
out for  the  Punjab,  would  have  been  almost  un- 
bearably monotonous.  In  due  course  we  arrived 
off  Garden  Beach,  which  is  the  entrance  to  the 


io2  BARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

river  Ganges  going  up  to  Calcutta.  There  is  a 
most  dangerous  sand-bar  here,  the  terror  of  every 
seaman  whose  ship  has  to  pass  it,  for  should  a 
vessel  touch  it,  no  matter  how  large  she  may  be, 
she  rolls  over  and  over  helplessly  and  disappears, 
generally  with  all  her  crew.  The  pilot  who  came 
to  bring  us  over  this  danger  was  the  only  man 
saved  from  a  large  ship  that  had  touched  this  spot, 
all  his  companions  and  the  ship  being  drawn  in  by 
the  fatal  bar  and  lost. 

Pilots  in  India  are  the  most  stuck-up  fellows  in 
the  world.  No  one  and  nothing  is  grand  enough 
for  them.  They  come  on  board  dressed  in  the 
finest  of  white  linen,  or  broad-cloth,  with  three 
servants,  two  leadsmen,  two  helmsmen,  and  a 
couple  of  huge  trunks  of  clothes.  They  receive 
splendid  pay,  sometimes  more  than  £3,000  a  year. 
They  serve  a  seven  years'  apprenticeship  as  leads- 
men, and  work  gradually  on  to  mates,  and  lastly 
masters.  When  they  get  old  or  disabled  they 
retire  on  a  pension.  On  this  occasion,  having 
received  our  imperial  and  imperious  master  on 
board — for  the  captain  becomes  a  nonentity  as 
soon  as  the  pilot  takes  command — we  set  off  to 
work  our  way  up  the  Ganges  to  Calcutta — a  very 
ticklish  piece  of  work,  as  the  river  is  so  tortuous. 
Although  not  so  long  as  the  Yan-tsze-kiang  in 
China,  the  Ganges  is  a  decent  length,  being  1,570 
English  miles,  and  is  far  more  beautiful  than  the 
Chinese  river.  But  it  is  exceedingly  dangerous 
not  only  on  account  of  its  frequent  twistings  and 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOUENE  AND  CALCUTTA.       103 

turnings,  but  because  of  its  great  narrowness  in 
some  parts,  and  the  force  of  its  current  in  various 
places.  Most  of  the  way  up  the  carpenter,  by  the 
pilot's  order,  stood  ready  with  his  axe  to  cut  the 
hawser  if  a  current  should  take  us  and  drive  us 
down  on  the  tug-boat.  We  went  along  very 
cautiously,  under  sail,  the  tug-boat  keeping  well 
ahead,  and  we  were  all  employed  trimming  sails 
the  whole  way  up.  The  scenery  was  most 
beautiful  and  varied,  gorgeous  as  only  an  Eastern 
country  can  be.  Now  and  then  we  passed  a  palace 
belonging  to  some  king  or  native  prince,  magnifi- 
cent in  structure  and  immense  in  size.  Each  end 
of  the  piazza  was  guarded,  one  by  a  Bengal  tiger, 
the  other  by  a  lion,  in  sign  of  the  kingly  rank. 
They  were  enclosed  in  large  stone  cages  with  iron 
bars,  and  we  passed  one  so  closely  that  we  threw 
in  a  biscuit  to  the  royal  beast,  which  he  was  too 
grand  to  touch,  at  least  while  we  were  looking  at 
him,  but  lay  with  his  great  paws  crossed  and  his 
grand  head  raised,  looking  down  the  river  with 
proud,  mournful  eyes.  The  tiger  was  running 
up  and  down  his  cage,  for  reasons  of  digestion 
probably,  as  the  mangled  remains  of  some  four- 
footed  animals  showed  that  he  had  just  finished 
his  dinner. 

We  were  two  days  before  we  sighted  the  city  of 
Calcutta.  It  is  situated  on  the  right-hand  side 
as  you  go  up  the  river,  and  looks  wonderfully 
imposing  and  grand.  The  manner  of  mooring 
ships  here  is  very  strange.  They  lay  six  in  a  row, 


104  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

right  in  front  of  the  city ;  each  vessel  drops  her 
anchor  into  the  stream,  and  then  pays  out  cable 
until  she  is  hauled  into  her  place  by  the  side  of  a 
vessel,  to  which  they  then  proceed  to  fasten  her 
by  hawsers.  One  after  another  is  so  fastened  until 
the  six  are  complete,  and  then  another  six  are 
arranged  in  the  same  way,  and  so  on  with  all 
vessels  that  come  into  port.  This  is  done  for  two 
reasons:  firstly,  to  enable  a  vessel  to  haul  out 
easily  when  she  has  her  cargo  on  board;  and 
secondly,  that  she  might  free  herself  quickly 
should  a  "  bore "  (large  wave)  happen  suddenly 
to  come  along.  We  had  that  pleasure  two  days 
after  our  arrival,  and  an  awful  and  wonderful  sight 
it  was,  and  fearful  destruction  and  loss  of  life  and 
property  it  occasioned. 

Great  excitement  prevailed  directly  the  "  bore  " 
was  seen  far  in  the  distance,  coming  up  the  river. 
It  consists  of  a  tremendous  huge  wave  from  twenty 
to  thirty  feet  in  height,  which  comes  rolling  up 
over  the  top  of  the  other  waves  and  water,  and 
sweeps  everything  before  it  with  resistless  force. 
All  the  ships  looked  well  to  their  fastenings,  that 
they  might  ease  out  without  danger ;  boats  and 
sampans  made  for  the  middle  of  the  stream,  their 
occupants  yelling  and  shouting  in  the  wildest 
terror.  It  is  much  safer  for  small  boats  to  meet 
the  bore  out  in  the  middle  than  near  land,  where 
they  run  a  good  chance  of  being  dashed  to  pieces, 
or  sent  flying  along  at  lightning  speed  for  a 
distance  of  sometimes  a  thousand  yards.  It 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.       105 

made  one  feel  the  powerlessness  of  man  when 
placed  in  opposition  to  any  freak  of  nature.  Take 
what  care  you  may,  protect  yourself  as  you  will 
with  all  knowledge  science  has  put  at  your 
disposal,  build  your  houses  and  enlarge  your 
stores,  work  for  years,  spending  all  your  strength, 
arrive  at  the  summit  of  your  highest  hopes,  and 
feel  safe  for  the  future,  but  you  have  forgotten 
Dame  Nature,  and  one  little  playful  trick  of  hers 
upsets  all  your  calculations,  ruins  your  property, 
and  reduces  you  to  despair.  Watching  this 
gigantic  wave  coining  swiftly  onward,  sweeping 
all  before  it,  cruel  as  the  grave,  resistless  as  death, 
I  had  a  curious  sensation  that  I  stood  alone 
watching  the  destruction  of  some  world.  I  was 
at  the  time  ashore  in  the  officers'  quarters  of  the 
Sailors'  Home,  and  looked  on  from  the  verandah 
of  that  building.  Away  to  the  right  was  a  long 
neck  of  land  jutting  out  into  the  river,  covered 
with  houses,  huts,  gardens  and  fields,  inhabited  by 
both  Europeans  and  natives.  On  came  the  wave, 
silently,  swiftly,  deadly,  swept  over  it,  and  went 
on,  carrying  with  it  land,  houses,  huts,  and  people. 
A  large  steamboat,  not  having  time  to  move  far 
enough  from  shore,  was  lifted  up  and  dashed  high 
and  dry  on  land;  many  of  the  crew  were  killed 
from  the  shock,  and  the  whole  of  one  side  of  the 
vessel  was  stove  in.  This  "  bore  "  was  not 
considered  one  of  the  worst.  I  confess  I  thought 
it  quite  bad  enough,  and  was  thankful  I  was  on 
shore. 


106  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

I  was  young  and  foolish  at  that  time,  and 
because  some  misunderstanding  had  arisen  be- 
tween the  captain  and  myself  I  resolved  to  remain 

behind.  Captain  K was  a  good  man  and  a  brave 

officer,  but  too  strict  to  suit  my  ideas  at  that  time, 
therefore  when  the  Enterprise  was  hauled  out  to 
start  on  her  return  voyage  to  England,  I,  like  a  hot- 
headed young  fool,  slipped  overboard  with  a  small 
bundle  of  my  belongings,  and  swam  some  distance 
to  where  I  had  a  friend  waiting  for  me  in  a  sam- 
pan. Of  course  I  forfeited  all  my  money,  not  to 
speak  of  my  position ;  but  youngsters  never  seem 
to  learn  the  lesson  of  life  without  bitter  experience. 
Could  I  have  looked  on  a  few  months  and  have 
seen  to  what  depths  of  misery  and  starvation  my 
ill-advised  act  would  bring  me,  I  think  I  should 
not  have  had  the  courage  to  do  aught  but  let  the 
waters  close  over  my  luckless  head.  My  friend 
kept  me  hidden  for  three  days  until  the  'Enterprise 
was  gone,  when  I  again  joined  the  officers'  mess 
at  the  Sailors'  Home.  If  you  want  good  living,  go 
there ;  it  was  something  wonderful.  Young  suck- 
ing-pigs boiled  in  champagne,  roast  duck,  truffled 
pigeons,  curried  dishes  of  every  description ;  while 
the  wines,  ices,  and  fruit  were  above  praise,  and 
the  cost  not  at  all  exorbitant. 

Some  astrologer  from  England  predicted  the 
coming  of  a  cyclone  about  this  time,  that  was  to 
pass  over  Calcutta,  and  to  be  of  terrific  force.  For 
anything  less  serious,  it  would  have  been  amusing 
to  see  the  panic  this  prophecy  caused.  The 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.       107 

palaces,  the  houses,  in  fact  the  whole  town  was 
soon  emptied  of  their  tenants,  who,  after  securing 
their  property  the  best  way  they  could,  went  miles 
away,  fearful  that  their  houses  would  be  blown 
down  about  them.  In  this  case  it  turned  out  to 
be  a  false  alarm,  when,  instead  of  being  thankful 
that  it  was  so,  the  unfortunate  astrologer  was 
overwhelmed  with  abuse  and  execration.  Ravages 
made  by  the  last  cyclone  were  still  visible  on  all 
sides.  I  saw  parts  of  vessels  that  had  been  blown 
out  of  the  river  and  carried  a  mile  and  a  half  into 
land,  mixed  up  with  debris  of  houses,  wharves, 
trees,  in  fact  anything  that  had  stood  any  height 
from  the  ground.  I  heard  one  story  that  is  worth 
repeating.  A  very  fine  ship,  a  three-master,  had 
been  taken  up  by  the  cyclone,  whirled  through  the 
air  like  a  dead  leaf,  and  thrown  on  shore  with  such 
nice  aim  that  the  jib-boom  and  bowsprit  were 
driven  clean  through  one  of  the  native  huts.  The 
next  day,  after  all  the  turmoil  and  excitement  was 
somewhat  appeased,  the  owner  of  the  hut  came  to 
the  captain  and  requested  him  to  take  away  his 
ship,  as  it  obstructed  the  entrance,  filled  up  the 
rooms,  and  prevented  him  and  his  family  from 
living  in  the  house.  The  poor  captain,  who 
desired  nothing  better  than  to  see  his  magnificent 
vessel  back  again  in  her  own  element,  instead  of 
looking  as  if  she  had  been  caught  red-handed  in  a 
bad  housebreaking  case,  could  not  help  smiling  at 
the  naivete  of  the  demand.  That  smile  cost  him 
dear.  The  infuriated  native  was  so  angry  at  what 


loa  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

he  chose  to  consider  mocking  at  his  misfortunes, 
quite  ignoring  that  the  captain  was  in  a  worse 
plight  than  himself,  that  he  got  numbers  of  his 
friends  and  literally  broke  the  vessel  up  in  pieces. 
I  never  heard  that  the  captain  could  get  any 
redress,  nor  could  he  probably  have  succeeded 
himself  in  moving  so  heavy  a  ship  more  than  a 
mile  to  the  water. 

The  hotels  and  houses  are  on  a  grand  scale, 
with  every  comfort  that  art  or  money  can  devise  ; 
so  that  although  the  heat  is,  of  course,  very  great, 
I  doubt  whether  the  Europeans  suffer  as  much 
from  it  as  from  a  hot  summer  in  England,  where 
no  alleviations,  such  as  are  common  here,  can  be 
got  at.  The  delicious  coolness  of  the  air  caused 
by  the  incessant  moving  of  punkahs  is  beyond 
words  delightful.  They  are  kept  going  by  coolies, 
who  squat  in  corners  or  corridors  for  that  purpose. 
Sometimes  they  drop  off  to  sleep — the  air  instantly 
becomes  stifling;  then  the  man  with  the  most 
energy  among  us  would  wake  the  coolie  with  a 
gentle  kick,  and  lazily  come  back  to  his  lounging 
chair,  cigar,  and  iced  claret.  A  very  luxurious  life 
this  Indian  one,  but  it  takes  all  the  energy  out  of 
a  man,  and  one  quickly  sinks  into  a  lotus-eating 
state  of  mind  that  makes  work  a  terror,  and  even 
the  trouble  of  eating  almost  too  great  to  be  borne. 
Yet  nowhere  is  there  more  social  intercourse,  a 
greater  number  of  balls,  theatricals,  and  other 
amusements.  The  Europeans  seem  to  live  for 
that  alone,  and  outvie  each  other  in  the  grandeur 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.       109 

of  their  entertainments,  the  richness  of  their  wives' 
dresses,  and  the  cost  of  their  wines.  The  quantity 
of  wine  drank  a  year  in  Calcutta  would,  I  should 
think,  float  a  three-decker.  Ladies  are  not  at  all 
backward,  wine  being  said  to  be  good  for  their 
complexions,  and  whether  for  that  reason  or  any 
other,  they  certainly  imbibe  considerable  quan- 
tities. 

The  Ganges  is  believed  to  be  a  sacred  river ; 
natives  from  the  interior  come  long  distances  to 
bathe,  and  carry  away  some  of  the  holy  water  to 
cure  their  sick.  If  they  died  after  taking  it,  well — it 
was  to  be  ;  if  they  recovered,  it  was  the  holy  water 
that  cured  them  :  a  simple  childlike  faith  that 
many  a  Christian  would  be  the  better  for  possess- 
ing. Sometimes  large  parties  of  men,  women, 
and  children  would  come  down  to  bathe,  after 
which  they  would  change  their  clothes  in  the 
water,  go  on  shore,  eat,  and  having  made  a  day  of 
it,  fill  their  large  bronze  jars  and  return  to  their 
homes.  They  drive  their  teams  with  bullocks — a 
very  small,  handsome  animal,  and  very  powerful. 
That  horrible  disease,  elephantiasis,  is  rather  com- 
mon. I  saw  a  man  sitting  near  the  roadside,  with 
a  leg  the  size  of  his  whole  body.  I  entered  into 
conversation  with  him,  and  he  told  me  that  he  had 
been  ill  for  many  months,  and  the  doctors  had  told 
him  he  could  not  be  cured.  It  is  a  horrible  disease, 
the  whole  skin  being  covered  with  incrustations 
like  the  skin  of  an  elephant.  We  were  talking 
about  it  at  dinner  that  night,  and  I  was  horrified 


110  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

to  hear  that  it  is  not  by  any  means  unfrequent  in 
this  country,  is  without  cure,  and  besides  being  a 
dreadful  chronic  disease,  is  regarded  as  contagious. 
A  surgeon  who  was  present  began  describing 
several  cases  that  had  come  under  his  notice,  with 
such  revolting  details  that  we  vowed  to  turn  him 
out  of  the  room  unless  he  talked  of  something 
else.  He  refrained  from  any  direct  stories,  although 
he  still  favoured  us  with  many  allusions. 

There  are  an  immense  number  of  different 
religious  sects  here,  and  each  as  strict  as  possible 
in  the  carrying  out  of  the  various  tenets  and  cere- 
monies belonging  to  their  own  particular  belief. 
I  have  seen  a  whole  side-walk  cleared  of  some  one 
sect,  because  a  European  happened  to  come  down 
on  the  same  side,  they  absolutely  walking  in  the 
middle  of  the  street,  with  the  blazing  sun  beating 
down  upon  them,  rather  than  risk  the  contamina- 
tion that  would  come  to  them,  by  the  contact 
with  "  a  dog  of  a  Christian."  However,  they  are 
not  always  discourteous.  I  remember,  when  out 
strolling  about  one  day,  I  saw  some  Hindoos 
drinking  from  a  fountain  that  was  placed  at  a 
corner  of  the  street.  Being  thirsty,  I  asked  one 
of  them  to  allow  me  to  have  some  water  from  his 
cup,  as  I  had  nothing  with  me  from  which  I  could 
drink.  He  hesitated  slightly,  then  with  a  profound 
salaam  handed  me  a  beautiful  little  vessel,  half 
saucer,  half  cup  in  shape,  of  fine  china  with  curious 
emblematic  figures  around  it.  I  took  a  drink,  and 
returned  it  to  him,  when  he  immediately  broke  it 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.       Ill 

in  little  pieces.  I  understood  his  hesitation  then, 
poor  fellow,  and  wished  I  had  known  before  that 
anything  touched  by  a  Christian  was  defiled  for 
them,  so  that  he  might  have  kept  his  beautiful 
cup. 

About  this  time  my  funds  were  getting  low,  and 
•  I  thought  it  quite  time  to  rouse  myself  from  the 
lazy,  luxurious  life  I  was  leading  and  look  around 
for  something  to  do.  I  met  an  old  schoolfellow, 
from  Nelson  House  School,  Plymouth,  who  was 
acting  as  railway  engineer  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river.  He  introduced  me  to  a  first  mate,  belong- 
ing to  the  East  India  Pilots.  He  was  a  very 
pleasant  man,  who  had  seen  many  ups  and  downs 
in  his  life,  and  rather  liked  giving  a  helping  hand 
to  young  fellows  who  through  misfortune  or  their 
own  folly  found  themselves  in  a  difficulty.  He 
intended  to  get  me  a  post  as  leadsman,  in  which 
capacity  I  should  have  to  serve  seven  years ;  but 
the  post  ultimately  attained  was  well  worth  the 
seven  years'  work,  and  it  would  have  been  a  fine 
thing  for  me.  Alas,  before  things  were  at  all  ar- 
ranged, the  scheme  was  knocked  on  the  head  by 
his  taking  the  command  of  one  of  the  P.  and  0. 
boats  to  China.  Disappointed  and  somewhat 
mortified,  I  left  the  office  where  I  had  heard  the 
news,  and  walked  with  more  speed  than  discretion 
back  to  the  Sailors'  Home.  Suddenly  I  felt  sick 
and  dizzy,  but  staggered  and  stumbled  on  almost 
blind.  Instinct  must  have  led  me  right,  for  I  had 
no  notion  where  I  was,  I  managed  to  get  not  only 


112  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

into  the  Home,  but  to  my  own  room,  where  I  seated 
myself  on  the  edge  of  the  bed,  and  went  through 
the  most  miserable  maddening  sensations  that  can 
hardly  be  imagined,  and  certainly  not  described ; 
then  I  collapsed  utterly,  and  knew  nothing  more 
until  I  came  to  myself  in  the  bed,  with  some  of 
the  officers  bathing  my  head.  The  doctor,  when 
he  came,  made  me  drink  quantities  of  water,  and 
in  a  few  days  I  was  all  right  again,  with  every  one 
congratulating  me  on  my  escaping  with  so  little 
harm  from  that  dread  illness  sunstroke.  Mine  was 
a  very  slight  stroke,  it  is  true,  but  I  found  it  bad 
enough ;  Heaven  help  those  who  have  it  worse,  for 
even  if  they  escape  with  their  lives,  it  nearly 
always  more  or  less  injures  their  reason. 

Just  as  I  was  fully  recovered,  a  great  disturb- 
ance occurred,  caused  by  the  ladies ;  whose  exces- 
sive fastidiousness  caused  a  regular  revolt.  There 
was  a  very  large  park  about  a  mile  from  the  city, 
part  of  which  was  beautifully  laid  out  as  pleasure 
grounds  and  was  called  Eden  Garden.  It  was  a 
favourite  resort  for  every  one,  and  military  bands 
played  there  every  evening.  Owing  to  the  great 
heat  during  the  day,  the  ladies  only  took  their 
drives  and  walks  there  after  sunset,  when  they 
ventured  forth  in  great  numbers,  elegantly  dressed 
and  generally  well  escorted.  At  this  time  the 
Sailors'  Home  happened  to  be  full  of  sailors,  who, 
having  nothing  better  to  do,  also  went  to  Eden 
Garden  to  hear  the  music  and  see  anything  that 
was  going  on.  In  order  to  make  themselves  more 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.       113 

comfortable,  as  the  weather  was  very  hot,  they 
left  off  their  shoes  and  stockings,  rolled  their  pants 
up  to  their  knees,  went  without  hats,  and  bared 
their  (very  often  hairy)  breasts  to  the  evening 
breezes.  Now  all  this  was  very  disgusting  to  the 
ladies,  who  complained  to  the  officers,  and  the 
result  was,  that  a  notice  was  posted  up  informing 
the  sailors  that  they  must  put  on  shoes  and  cover 
themselves  up  generally,  or  they  would  not  be 
allowed  to  enter  Eden.  This  mandate  considerably 
ruffled  the  "  tars,"  who  determined  to  see  whether 
they  could  or  could  not  force  their  way  in.  So 
some  half-dozen  in  a  greater  state  of  undress 
than  before  went  up  to  the  gates.  They  were 
immediately  collared  and  put  outside,  not  without 
stout  resistance.  Another  midshipman  and  myself 
were  walking  in  the  garden  at  the  time,  and  al- 
though we  were  in  uniform,  our  sticks  were  taken 
from  us,  and  we  were  told  that  we  could  only 
claim  them  on  leaving  the  grounds.  This  foolish 
little  act  of  tyranny  had  the  effect  of  placing  all 
the  midshipmen  on  the  side  of  the  sailors,  who  had 
called  a  meeting  and  had  determined  to  enter 
Eden  by  force.  One  glorious  evening  they  collected 
some  six  hundred  strong,  armed  themselves  with 
sticks,  and  were  headed  by  a  band,  the  instruments 
consisting  of  battered  tin  kettles,  penny  whistles 
and  such-like,  which,  struck  by  vigorous  arms, 
produced  the  most  hideous  noise  you  can  conceive. 
Arriving  at  the  gates,  they  broke  down  all  opposi- 
tion, marched  to  where  the  fine  military  band  was 

9 


114  SARD  LIFE  tN  TH£  COLONIES. 

performing  the  usual  evening  concert,  coolly  turned 
them  out,  and  installed  their  own  elegant  musi- 
cians, who  endeavoured  to  bray  forth  "Britons 
never  shall  be  slaves." 

The  alarm  having  been  given,  the  troops  were 
called  out  to  quell  the  disturbance,  the  officers 
hoping  that  the  mere  sight  of  a  company  of 
soldiers  would  be  sufficient  to  induce  the  sailors  to 
disperse.  But  the  "  tars  "  only  continued  their 
music  !  adding  vocal  to  the  instrumental,  and 
jeering  at  the  military.  The  order  was  then  given 
to  charge  and  clear  the  garden.  The  ladies  had 
all  been  hustled  out  of  the  way  before  the  fight 
began.  Twice  the  military  were  beaten  back,  and 
a  second  company  was  sent  for,  when  a  serious 
battle  ensued.  After  some  hard  fighting  the  sailors 
were  scattered,  but  not  before  seven  or  eight  had 
been  killed,  while  the  soldiers,  although  they  only 
actually  lost  three  men,  almost  all  were  wounded. 
Several  midshipmen  with  myself  joined  in  the 
fray,  and  I  received  a  severe  scalp  wound  from  a 
sword-bayonet  which  laid  me  up  for  some  time,  and 
left  a  mark  that  I  shall  carry  to  my  grave.  This 
affair  made  a  great  talk  at  the  time,  and  many  of 
the  sailors  that  were  taken  got  three  months  in 
prison.  When  I  recovered  from  my  wound  the 
Abyssinian  war  was  going  on,  and  I  conceived 
a  great  desire  to  join  in  it.  A  transport  ship  was 
leaving,  laden  "with  provisions  en  route  for  the 
scene  of  action,  and  I  found  no  difficulty  in  getting 
a  berth.  It  was  the  old  Trafalgar,  one  of  Green's 


VOYAGES  TO  MELBOURNE  AND  CALCUTTA.     nB 

ships.  We  were  under  Government  rules  and  law, 
and  flew  the  blue  ensign.  Nothing  of  interest 
occurred  on  the  voyage,  which  after  all  proved  a 
useless  one,  for  when  we  arrived  the  fighting  was 
all  over.  King  Theodore  had  shot  himself,  and 
the  prince,  a  little  naked  savage,  was  running 
about  the  beach  in  charge  of  some  English  officers. 
We  spent  a  short  time  there,  chiefly  employing  the 
hours  in  boat-racing,  and  then  returned  to  Calcutta, 
where  I  put  up  in  my  old  quarters. 


HARD   LIFE   IN   THE    COLONIES. 

I.— AUSTKALIA. 

SOME  twenty  years  ago  I  happened  to  find 
myself  in  Calcutta  penniless  and  friendless. 
How  I,  late  midshipman  in  Her  Majesty's  Service, 
had  come  to  such  a  mournful  state  of  destitution 
I  need  not  relate  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it 
was  entirely  owing  to  my  own  folly  and  wayward- 
ness, facts  which  did  not  tend  to  solace  me  in  my 
trouble.  Finding  it  a  difficult  matter  to  procure 
iny  daily  bread,  and  discovering  the  fact  that  I 
might  die  of  starvation  without  any  one  trying  to 
prevent  it,  I  went  down  to  the  wharf,  where,  not 
without  considerable  repugnance,  I  shipped  before 
the  mast  in  the  vessel  Airdale,  bound  for  London. 
Any  ship  after  the  ones  I  had  been  accustomed  to 
would  have  seemed  poor;  but  this  one  was  the 
worst  I  ever  trod  on.  She  was  a  long  snaky  iron 
vessel  nearly  400  feet  long,  and  would  ride  two  seas 
at  once.  She  was  never  dry  the  whole  voyage 
through;  always  looked  dirty,  and  was  uncom- 
fortable in  every  way. 

Luckily  for  me,  although  the  ship  was  detestable, 
the  captain  was  a  good-hearted  man,  and  did  what 
he  could  to  make  my  position  more  bearable,  for 
although  nothing  was  said  on  the  subject  when  I 


GILBERT  CHILCOTT  JENKINS. 
(After  a  Photograph.) 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  117 

joined,  he  told  me  on  parting  that  I  was  not  the 
first  gentleman  he  had  had  as  "  ordinary  seaman," 
and  whether  owing  to  their  own  fault  or  to  some 
misfortune,  he  always  felt  a  deep  sympathy  for 
them.  The  crew,  too,  although  rough  and  often 
coarse,  were  not  unkind,  and  would  sometimes 
teach  me  some  part  of  my  duty  at  which  I  was 
particularly  awkward  with  a  delicacy  of  feeling 
that  a  lady  need  not  have  despised.  The  men 
took  their  tone  from  the  captain,  proving  once 
more  the  old  saying  that  a  good  master  makes  a 
good  servant. 

One  day,  when  we  were  some  two  weeks  out, 
I  was  at  the  wheel,  feeling  somewhat  glad  that  I 
should  soon  be  relieved,  for  I  found  it  rather 
anxious  work.  The  sea  was  choppy,  the  wind 
cross,  and  every  now  and  then  the  rain  fell  in 
spiteful  gusts.  Everything  looked  grey,  dreary, 
and  uninteresting.  When  the  next  man  came 
whose  turn  it  was  to  steer,  I  gave  the  wheel  a 
somewhat  vicious  jerk,  when  to  my  amazement  it 
walked  clean  out  of  the  wheel-house  and  down  the 
deck,  as  if  it  too  were  glad  of  a  little  change  from 
its  monotonous  life.  It  was  a  very  annoying 
accident,  as  it  took  two  days'  hard  work  before  it 
could  be  replaced,  and  those  two  days  were  really 
terrible.  Not  only  was  the  weather  wet  and 
boisterous,  but  steering  was  almost  impossible. 
It  took  four  men  to  tack,  luff  upon  luff,  and  gay 
upon  guy.  I  fully  expected  to  be  blamed,  but 
Captain  B^- —  was  a  just  man,  and  on  examining 


118  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

the  wheel-house  the  pivot  on  which  the  wheel  hung 
was  found  to  have  been  bent.  Christmas  was  upon 
us  as  we  neared  the  Western  Islands,  but  the 
weather  had  not  improved.  The  forecastle  was 
flooded,  all  our  chests  floated  about,  and  it  was  a 
real  difficulty  to  get  any  clothes  out  of  them.  I 
used  to  wade  in.  knee-deep  and  push  my  chest 
against  the  side  of  the  vessel,  steadying  it  as  well 
as  I  could  while  I  opened  it.  The  rats  were  very 
lively,  and  would  dart  over  the  lid  and  inside 
without  a  "  with  your  leave  "  or  "  by  your  leave," 
burrowing  under  the  garments,  whisking  their  long 
tails,  and  squeaking  defiance.  One  lady  rat  was 
pleased  to  honour  my  trunk  by  making  it  the 
birthplace  of  her  six  children,  and  fiercely  resented 
my  attempt  to  dislodge  her  and  them.  Being 
always  weak  where  the  female  sex  is  concerned,  I 
gave  in  to  her  evident  wish  and  determination  to 
remain,  and  left  the  lid  open  that  she  might  receive 
her  husband's  visits.  I  took  care,  however,  to 
remove  my  wearing  apparel,  with  the  exception  of 
a  flannel  vest  which  madame  had  chosen  for  her 
bed.  I  may  add  that  she  and  the  six  lived  there 
for  several  weeks,  and  all  departed  one  day,  taking 
care  to  carry  off  the  vest,  which  had  been  torn 
in  pieces  for  that  purpose.  Though  she  was 
ungrateful,  I  confess  to  feeling  a  pang  when 
madame 's  bright  eyes  no  longer  looked  up  at  me 
from  my  sea-chest.  On  Christmas  Day  the 
captain  presented  us  with  a  pig  for  dinner.  We 
were  grateful  for  the  present,  though  we  hardly 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  119 

knew  what  to  do  with  it,  for  the  weather  was  so 
bad  the  cook  could  not  boil  the  water  necessary  to 
scald  him.  There  was  piggy  very  much  alive, 
grunting  in  blissful  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  his 
fate  was  being  even  then  decided  upon ;  but  how 
to  manage  to  eat  him  without  being  scalded  was 
the  difficult  question.  Hot  and  loud  grew  the 
discussion,  many  and  impossible  were  the  sug- 
gestions. I  remember  one  coming  from  the  car- 
penter to  the  effect  that  as  piggy  couldn't  be 
scalded,  because  boiling  water  could  not  be  pro- 
cured, he  might  be  planed.  Finally  it  was  settled 
that  he  should  be  skinned,  and  soon  after  he 
grunted  his  last  grunt,  was  skinned,  and  an 
attempt  made  to  roast  him.  But  the  ghost  of 
piggy  seemed  to  hover  over  his  remains,  for  he  got 
smoked,  he  burnt  in  places,  he  fell  asunder,  he 
curled  up,  he  stretched  out;  but  cook  like  an 
ordinary  respectable  porker  he  would  not.  It  was 
a  Christmas  dinner  under  great  difficulties.  The 
cook  had  peeled  some  onions,  and  finding  it  impos- 
sible to  chop  them  up  with  sage  as  he  had  intended 
(for  the  ship  was  rolling  like  a  drunken  man),  had 
pitched  them  in  whole,  with  some  potatoes,  where 
they  gaily  ran  up  and  down  piggy's  stomach,  can- 
noning against  each  other  like  iron  balls.  The 
plum-pudding  I  think  I  won't  mention ;  it  is  best 
buried  in  oblivion.  I  will  only  say  that  it  very 
nearly  buried  three  seamen,  who  were  only  saved 
by  repeated  doses  of  raw  Jamaica  rum. 

This  terrible  weather  lasted  three  weeks,  during 


120  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

the  whole  of  which  time  the  captain  had  not  taken 
his  clothes  off  or  slept  more  than  two  hours  at  a 
time.  Some  of  the  men — and  I  among  them— 
suffered  very  much  from  the  state  of  our  hands, 
the  lines  in  them  being  open,  raw  to  the  bone, 
owing  to  the  rain-water  mixing  with  the  salt  whilst 
working  on  the  ropes.  Several  were  obliged  to  go 
to  the  hospital  on  arriving  in  England,  and  three, 
I  heard,  never  fully  recovered  the  use  of  their 
hands.  I  was  more  fortunate,  for  although  I 
suffered  very  much  %at  the  time,  the  wounds  healed 
quickly  when  once  they  could  be  attended  to,  and 
I  felt  no  after  bad  effect. 

We  arrived  safely  in  London,  rather  to  every 
one's  surprise,  for  the  Airdale  was  not  a  vessel  cal- 
culated to  inspire  her  captain  and  crew  with  any 
confidence.  Like  a  true  woman,  many  were  her 
moods  and  capricious  her  temper ;  but  in  times  of 
trouble  she  came  nobly  to  the  rescue. 

I  bade  good-bye  to  Captain  B with   real 

regret,  and  some  weeks  after  shipped  in  the 
Macduff,  bound  for  Melbourne,  as  third  officer. 

A  third  mate's  position  is  far  from  being  an 
enviable  one  ;  like  a  corporal  in  the  army,  he  is  at 
the  beck  and  call  of  every  one,  and  satisfies  none. 

I  was  unfortunate  enough  to  offend  the  captain 
at  the  very  outset.  He  was  a  Scotchman,  very 
proud,  conceited,  and  overbearing,  with  a  painful 
sensitiveness  of  his  exceeding  ugliness.  Women 
did  not  like  him ;  he,  on  the  contrary,  was  very 
fond  of  the  fair  sex,  and  would  force  his  attentions 


HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES.  121 

upon  them,  with  a  disregard  to  their  evident  aver- 
sion that  made  one  long  to  kick  him.  I  had  been 
able  to  offer  some  small  attentions  to  one  of  the 
lady  passengers  on  her  arrival,  for  which  she  was 
far  more  grateful  than  there  was  any  need.  The 
captain  offering  his  help,  she  turned  away  from 
him  and  called  me.  This  trifling  act  was  the 
beginning  of  his  treating  me  with  systematic 
hardness,  and  even  tyranny. 

The  pilot  we  took  on  board  on  leaving  London 
was  an  elderly  man  with  great  experience.  He 
was  pleased  with  my  seamanship,  and  allowed  me 
to  steer  nearly  the  whole  way  down  Channel.  On 
leaving  he  recommended  me  particularly  to  the 
captain,  which  had  the  effect  of  making  that 
worthy  more  bitter  against  me  than  before.  From 
that  day  my  life  was  made  a  burden  to  me ; 
everything  I  did  was  wrong,  and  everything 
I  did  not  do,  was  equally  wrong.  I  gave  up 
trying  to  please  him  in  despair,  and  only  struggled 
to  keep  my  temper,  for  I  saw  clearly  that  he  was 
doing  all  he  could  to  goad  me  into  being  insolent 
to  him.  Several  weeks  passed  without  any  open 
dispute,  but  a  row  was  inevitable,  and  one  day  it 
came  with  a  vengeance. 

The  Macduffvt&s  a  passenger  vessel,  and  on  this 
voyage  had  her  full  number  in  each  class.  Among 
the  third  class  passengers  were  many  very  poor 
and  miserable.  As  all  the  stores  passed  through 
my  hands,  I  had  taken  a  few  comforts  to  the  women 
and  children,  This  was  not  perhaps  strictly  right. 


122  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

but  any  other  captain  would  have  passed  it  un- 
noticed; so  indeed  would  Captain  M had  any 

man  but  my  unfortunate  self  been, the  culprit. 

He  had  me  called  up  before  the  officers  and 
men,  abused  me  roundly  for  wasteful  expenditure 
of  the  ship's  stores,  vowing  he  would  make  an 
example  of  me,  and  disrating  me,  sent  me  for- 
ward among  the  men.  Such  a  piece  of  injustice 
completely  dumbfounded  me,  and  before  I  could 
find  my  tongue  I  was  dismissed. 

All  the  crew  were  very  indignant  at  the  way  I 
had  been  treated ;  there  was  a  good  deal  of  talk 
about  it,  and  the  passengers  hearing  of  it,  took  up 
my  cause  warmly.  A  petition  was  drawn  up  and 
signed  by  every  one  on  board,  begging  the  captain 
to  restore  me  to  my  position  as  third  officer. 
Angry  at  this  show  of  favour  towards  me,  Captain 

M tore  up  the  petition,  refusing  the  request 

in  such  insulting  terms  that  I  lost  all  control  over 
my  temper,  and  poured  forth  a  torrent  of  pas- 
sionate words  at  his  injustice.  I  was  furious  with 
myself  afterwards  for  giving  him  the  very  oppor- 
tunity he  needed  for  completing  my  disgrace.  He 
now  disrated  me  to  an  "  ordinary  seaman."  But 
I  had  come  to  the  end  of  my  patience,  and  dog- 
gedly refused  to  work  in  this  capacity.  Captain 

M then  ordered  me  to  be  put  in  irons  and 

confined  to  the  forecastle.  After  a  week  of  this 
imprisonment  I  was  brought  on  the  poop  before 
him,  who  asked  me  if  I  was  prepared  to  obey  him 
and  act  as  ordinary  seaman. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  123 

I  answered,  "  No,  I  signed  the  ship's  articles  as 
third  officer,  and  I  will  work  in  no  other  capacity. 
Let  me  take  my  duty  again,  and  I  will  do  all  in 
my  power  to  give  you  satisfaction,  but  work  as 
ordinary  seaman  I  will  not." 

So  back  I  was  marched  again  for  another  week, 
when  the  same  thing  happened  with  the  same 
result.  This  went  on  for  three  weeks.  Finding 
me  determined  not  to  give  in,  and  fearing  the  bad 
impression  he  had  made  on  the  passengers  by  this 
act  of  palpable  injustice,  he  commanded  the  irons 
to  be  taken  off,  and  in  a  voice  quivering  with  rage 
told  me  he  dismissed  me  from  the  service  of  the 
Macduff,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage  I  was  not 
to  come  aft  of  the  fore-mast. 

So  the  remainder  of  the  voyage  I  spent  in  idle- 
ness, as  far  as  seamen's  duties  went,  but  found 
plenty  of  work  among  the  poor  passengers,  in 
helping  and  cheering  them  up.  Many  were  going 
to  Melbourne  without  the  faintest  idea  of  what  to 
do  when  there.  One  of  these  emigrants,  an  Irish- 
woman, became  very  much  attached  to  me  ;  I  had 
been  able  to  do  her  some  slight  kindness  the  day 
she  came  on  board,  and  from  that  moment  she  was 
my  warmest  partisan,  and  would  make  up  little 
dainty  dishes  and  bring  them  to  me  when  I  was 
supposed  to  be  on  the  exciting  diet  of  bread  and 
water.  Her  husband  was  a  carpenter  in  New- 
castle, New  South  Wales,  and  she  was  going  to 
join  him  after  a  five  years'  absence. 

&m.ong  the  second  class  passengers  was  a  French 


124  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

girl,  with  the  most  wonderful  voice  I  have  ever 
heard, — a  pure  soprano,  clear  as  a  bell  and  sweet 
as  a  nightingale.  Often  of  an  evening  she  would 
come  on  deck  and  sing  song  after  song  in  the  most 
good-natured  way.  There  was  also  among  the 
passengers  a  fine  handsome  young  Englishman, 
who  was  going  to  join  his  friends  who  were  mining 
in  South  Australia.  These  two  were  supposed  to 
be  engaged,  they  were  always  together,  and  all  on 
board  took  a  great  interest  in  watching  them;  he 
was  such  a  manly  young  fellow,  and  she  had  all 
the  charm  and  grace  of  a  Frenchwoman,  without 
the  capriciousness  and  inconstancy  that  so  often 
mar  the  women  of  La  belle  Prance. 

One  morning  we  were  just  off  the  Cape,  where 
the  sea  runs  very  high  at  any  time,  but  now  the 
billows  were  like  mountains,  and  the  Macduff  flew 
before  the  wind  with  square  sails  set.  So  rough 
was  it,  that  orders  had  been  given  that  no  pas- 
senger was  to  be  allowed  on  the  top-gallant-fore- 
castle. Mademoiselle  Yinot,  however,  pleaded  so 
hard  to  be  allowed  to  see  the  storm  of  waters,  that 
her  lover  gave  in,  and  with  my  assistance  we  got 
her  up  the  ladder.  I  left  them,  advising  them  not 
to  stay  long,  and  above  all  to  hold  firm.  I  had 
barely  reached  the  forecastle,  when  the  ship  gave 
a  fearful  roll,  and  I  heard  a  shriek  of  agony, 
followed  immediately  by  the  cry,  "  A  man  over- 
board!" Bushing  back,  I  was  just  in  time  to 
catch  Mademoiselle  Vinot,  who,  wild  with  terror 
and  grief,  was  throwing  herself  after  her  lover, 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  126 

The  poor  young  fellow  had  lost  his  footing  when 
the  ship  gave  that  heavy  lurch,  and  falling  had 
struck  the  chain-rail  in  the  middle  of  his  body,  the 
rebound  from  the  blow  throwing  him  into  the  sea. 

As  soon  as  the  man  at  the  wheel  heard  the  cry, 
"  Man  overboard !"  he  put  the  wheel  hard  down, 
and  brought  the  vessel  to  a  standstill,  quivering 
from  the  sudden  shock,  from  bow  to  stern. 

The  captain  and  mates,  who  were  dining  at  the 
time,  and  several  of  the  passengers,  were  on  deck 
in  a  moment,  and  every  assistance  possible  was 
promptly  given,  but  alas  in  vain.  I  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  poor  fellow  as  he  was  passing 
astern,  and  never  as  long  as  I  live  shall  I  forget 
his  beseeching,  horror-struck  look.  Mademoiselle 
Vinot  fainted,  mercifully  for  her.  In  the  excite- 
ment of  the  moment  I  forgot  the  order  that  pro- 
hibited me  from  coming  aft  of  the  fore-mast,  and 
jumping  into  one  of  the  quarter-boats  with  the 
second  mate  and  one  of  the  sailors,  began  to  lower. 
Unfortunately  one  of  the  tackles  broke,  and  we 
were  nearly  thrown  out.  The  captain  seeing  our 
.perilous  position  ordered  us  on  deck  at  once,  saying 
no  boat  in  the  world  could  live  in  such  a  sea.  A 
man  was  sent  to  the  royal-mast-head  to  see  in 
what  direction  the  drowning  man  would  rise.  He 
rose  only  twice,  and  the  albatross  and  molly-hawks 
were  tearing  and  pecking  at  him  for  about  ten 
minutes ;  then  he  disappeared.  The  sight  was 
sickening,  and  one  of  the  men  passengers  fainted, 
while  another  ran  madly  up  and  down  raving, 


126  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

11  For  God's  sake  save  him !  "  The  poor  young 
fellow  could  not  swim  a  stroke,  and  besides  was 
heavily  capped  by  having  a  great  overcoat  and 
heavy  top-boots  on  at  the  time  he  was  thrown  into 
the  sea.  He  had  also  on  his  person  a  lot  of 
jewellery  and  a  large  sum  of  money  belonging  to 
Mademoiselle  Vinot. 

A  strange  and  sad  incident  about  this  drowning 
case  is  worthy  of  mention.  Only  the  evening 
before,  in  conversation  with  several  of  the  pas- 
sengers, he  had  mentioned  the  fact  that  both  of 
his  brothers  had  met  with  their  death  by  drowning, 
and  laughingly  said,  "  I  don't  think  I  need  fear 
now,  for  I  have  not  far  to  go,  and  we  are  told 
those  who  are  born  to  be  hanged  will  never  be 
drowned." 

I  don't  know  what  became  of  Mademoiselle 
Vinot  for  certain,  though  I  was  told  some  years 
after  that  she  married  a  horsedealer,  a  man  of 
great  wealth,  who  had  made  his  fortune  by  buying 
up  horses  in  the  Colonies  and  taking  them  to 
India. 

When  Mary  Daly,  the  Irishwoman  I  have  men- 
tioned before,  heard  the  cry  of  "  Man  overboard  !  " 
and  the  commotion  that  followed,  she  came  on 
deck  shrieking  that  they  had  killed  me ;  she  knew 
they'd  been  wanting  to  do  it  for  some  time  !  The 
more  the  men  tried  to  explain,  the  wilder  she  got, 
and  nothing  would  pacify  her  until  I  was  brought 
into  her  presence,  when  she  threw  herself  on  the 
ground  at  my  feet,  embracing  my  knees  and 


>  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  127 

sobbing  and  laughing.  I  am  afraid  I  was  more 
irritated  than  pleased  at  this  loud  affection.  Poor 
Mary,  I  never  came  across  her  again  after  she  had 
reached  her  destination,  but  I  have  often  thought 
of  her,  and  hoped  she  is  happy  with  her  husband, 
of  whom  she  seemed  very  fond. 

After  this,  things  went  on  their  usual  course  for 
some  little  time.  The  captain  ignored  my  presence 
altogether,  and  if  by  accident  we  met  face  to  face, 
would  not  even  return  my  salute,  which  I  con- 
sidered not  gentlemanly.  The  lady  passengers, 
however,  amply  made  up  to  me  for  any  unpleasant- 
ness I  suffered  at  the  hands  of  Captain  M . 

At  Port  Phillip  Heads,  we  took  on  board  a  pilot 
and  were  sailing  between  Dromanagh  and  Geelong, 
when  we  saw  the  wreck  of  a  fine  clipper  ship. 
Her  top-sail-yards  were  out  of  water,  all  her  sails 
on,  and  masts  unharmed,  but  her  decks  were  blown 
up  and  she  was  a  total  wreck.  There  is  no  sadder 
•sight  to  a  sailor  than  to  see  a  vessel  wrecked, 
lying  like  some  beautiful  wounded  bird,  useless, 
helpless  and  desolate.  This  was  the  Hurricane, 
that  had  sailed  from  Liverpool,  and  was  wrecked 
almost  after  reaching  her  destination.  On  board 
of  her  was  a  gentleman,  whom  it  was  my  good 
fortune  to  meet  a  few  months  afterwards,  and  from 
whom  I  have  never  since  parted.  Many  and  varied 
have  been  the  adventures  we  have  passed  through 
together  in  these  long  years,  adventures  that  I  will 
leave  him  to  describe,  for  I  have  not  the  gift  of 
writing  as  he  has*  Through  sorrow  and  joy, 


128  HAUD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

poverty  and  ill-health,  we  have  passed  together, 
our  hearts  knit  to  each  other  with  a  deep  and 
lasting  affection  that  nothiag  can  destroy  in  life, 
nor,  I  trust,  in  death,  whose  grey  shadow  hovers 
near  my  dear  old  friend.  God  help  me  when  the 
blow  falls. 

Forgive  me  this  digression  and  let  me  return 
to  the  Macduff.  We  reached  Melbourne  without 
anything  more  worthy  of  note  happening.  Captain 
M —  -  paid  me  what  was  due  to  me,  and  we  parted 
mutually  delighted  to  be  rid  of  each  other. 

I  now  found  myself  again  adrift  on.  the  world, 
without  much  idea  what  to  do  with  myself.  The 
lady  who  had  been  the  innocent  cause  of  Captain 

M 's  taking  a  dislike  to  me,  had  asked  me  if 

her  husband  (he  was  a  large  shipbuilder),  could  be 
of  any  service  to  me,  but  foolish  pride  had  made  me 
refuse  her  offer,  and  I  preferred  to  wander  alone  and 
friendless,  like  a  wounded  animal  who  crawls  to  some 
solitary  spot  to  die  in  lonely  misery.  I  had  only  a 
few  pounds,  which,  with  an  indifference  to  the  future 
that  astonishes  me  now,  I  spent  in  living  quietly 
in  a  small  lodging  where  I  remained  until,  having 
paid  up,  I  was  left  literally  with  one  penny  in  my 
pocket,  which  I  turned  mechanically  between  my 
fingers  as  I  paced  the  streets.  A  tiny  flower-girl 
begged  me  to  buy  a  bunch  of  violets — "  only  a 
penny,"  and  my  only  penny  passed  into  her  wee 
hands  in  exchange  for  the  sweet-smelling  flowers 
that  were  not  sweeter  than  the  kiss  the  little 
maiden  gave  me  pardessus  le  marclie. 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  129 

Now  that  I  was  literally  penniless,  I  felt  relieved, 
and  looked  about  for  some  work  to  do.  On  turning 
a  corner  I  ran  against  one  of  the  crew  of  the 
Macduff.  Our  quickly  uttered  expletives  turned 
into  something  more  polite.  Jackson  informed 
me  that  he  had  "  run  "  from  the  Macduff ;  why,  he 
did  not  explain,  nor  did  I  ask — it  was  none  of  my 
business.  After  a  little  talk,  he  asked  me  if  I 
could  help  him — "  For  I've  only  fourpence  in  my 
pocket."  "  Then  you  have  fourpence  more  than  I 
have,  my  man."  I  answered;  "We  must  find  work." 

We  set  out  together,  with  that  hope  that  springs 
eternal  in  the  human  breast,  and  it  was  only  after 
hours  of  fruitless  search  that  we  saw  fate  was 
against  us,  and  for  that  day  at  least  we  should  find 
nothing  to  do.  Telling  Jackson  that  I  would  meet 
him  the  next  morning  at  the  same  place,  I  bade 
him  good-night.  Fourpence  would  get  one  man  a 
meal  and  a  night's  lodging,  but  it  was  not  enough 
for  two.  I  satisfied  the  good-hearted  sailor,  by 
telling  him  I  knew  where  to  go  to  be  comfortable  ; 
which  was  quite  true — that  I  could  not  afford  to 
go  there,  was  another  thing. 

I  walked  off  briskly  in  an  opposite  direction  from 
Jackson  until  he  was  out  of  sight ;  then  slackening 
my  speed,  I  began  to  wonder  what  to  do  next.  I 
had  eaten  nothing  since  I  had  left  my  lodging  that 
morning,  and  wandering  about  all  day  in  search  of 
work  had  made  me  weary  and  footsore. 

It  was  a  lovely  night,  the  stars  twinkled  and 
glittered  in  the  deep  blue  of  the  heavens,  and  a 
10 


130  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

young  moon  threw  her  pure,  cold  glamour  over  all. 
It  disgusted  me  to  find  that  all  this  beauty  affected 
me  but  little,  simply  because  I  had  been  a  few 
hours  without  eating.  Poor  humanity,  what 
stumbling-blocks  in  the  way  of  rising  to  higher 
things  are  the  material  needs  of  every  day ! 

On  I  went,  through  street  after  street  aimlessly, 
taking  a  faint  interest  in  the  crowds  of  busy  people 
that  were  hurrying  to  their  homes  or  to  some 
amusement ;  but  after  a  while  they  became  fewer 
as  I  left  the  fine  streets,  and,  as  night  advanced, 
only  a  policeman,  a  drunken  man,  or  some  home- 
less waif  like  myself,  occupied  the  pavements.  On 
I  went,  now  walking  mechanically,  seeing  nothing 
and  feeling  nothing,  until  from  some  near  church 
clock  chimed  the  hour  of  midnight.  Shaking 
myself  from  the  sort  of  lethargy  into  which  I 
had  fallen,  I  looked  around  me.  The  place  was 
deserted,  all  was  still  and  solemn.  The  church 
from  which  the  clock  had  just  struck  twelve 
loomed  before  me,  and  towards  it  I  directed  my 
footsteps.  To  my  surprise  I  found  the  door  opened 
to  my  touch.  On  entering,  I  saw  I  was  in  a  Eoman 
Catholic  church.  Kneeling  before  one  o  the 
altars,  which  was  lighted  by  two  or  three  candles, 
was  a  priest.  Hearing  some  one  enter,  he  got  up 
and  turned  towards  me,  and  I  thought  I  had  never 
seen  so  venerable  and  good  a  face.  He  said  some- 
thing that  I  was  too  faint  to  understand  or  reply 
to,  for  a  rushing  sound  came  into  my  ears  ;  I  made 
a  wild  effort  to  save  myself  from  falling  into  what 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  181 

seemed  an  ocean  of  darkness,  then  came  oblivion. 
When  I  came  to  myself,  the  kind  old  man  insisted 
on  my  going  to  his  house,  which  was  quite  close, 
where  he  made  me  eat  and  drink,  and  afterwards 
gave  me  a  bed — his  own,  I  found  out  the  next 
morning,  when  I  rose  early  to  thank  him  for  his 
hospitality.  He  would  not  let  me  go  until  I  had 
had  a  substantial  breakfast,  then  bidding  me  God- 
speed, he  shook  hands,  and  I  lefb. 

He  had  not  asked  one  question  about  me,  who  I 
was,  how  I  came  there,  or  whether  I  was  a  Eoman 
Catholic ;  but  seeing  my  need,  had  simply  helped 
me,  in  the  spirit  of  true  Christianity. 

Strengthened  and  cheered,  I  walked  briskly  back 
to  the  place  I  had  appointed  to  meet  Jackson,  and 
found  him  there  before  me,  looking  radiant, 
although  we  had  not  a  cent  between  us,  and 
yesterday's  experience  might  have  thrown  a  gloom 
over  his  brightest  hopes.  We  went  to  the  docks, 
but  at  first  could  find  nothing  to  do  ;  the  place  was 
crowded  with  loafers  and  men  out  of  work.  At 
last  a  man  offered  us  a  shilling  an  hour  to  load 
waggons  with  large  stones.  I  couldn't  help 
laughing  to  myself  at  the  idea,  but  was  too  wise  to 
refuse,  so  Jackson  and  I  set  to  work. 

Never  shall  I  forget  it !  I  suppose  I  had  not 
entirely  recovered  a  bayonet  wound  I  had  received 
some  months  before  in  Calcutta,  and  which  had 
thrown  me  into  a  fever ;  at  any  rate,  my  back  felt 
as  if  it  would  break,  and  my  head  throbbed  wildly. 
I  glanced  again  and  again  at  Jackson,  who  was 


182  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

vigorously  pitching  the  stones  into  his  truck  to 
the  accompaniment  of  the  song  sailors  sing  when 
pulling  up  an  anchor.  He  shouted  out  words  of 
encouragement  now  and  then,  which  helped  me 
on,  because  they  amused  rne  by  their  singular  in- 
appropriateness. 

I  managed  to  put  in  two  hours,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  a  man 
must  be  brought  up  to  the  business  of  loading 
trucks  with  stones,  quite  as  much  as  to  the  higher 
walks  in  life.  Jackson,  although  he  had  worked 
so  bravely,  was  not  sorry  of  the  excuse  to  give  up, 
for  he  vowed  he  would  not  leave  me  ;  so  having 
received  our  two  shillings  each,  we  started  again 
on  our  travels.  I  called  for  a  small  bundle  of  my 
things  that  I  had  left  at  the  lodgings,  the  principal 
item  being  a  fine  Anglo-German  concertina  I 
had  bought  in  London,  and  from  which  I  could 
not  bear  to  part.  Jackson's  luggage  was  even  less 
bulky  than  mine,  consisting  of  a  shirt  and  a  pair 
of  socks  tied  up  in  a  coloured  handkerchief. 

We  walked  twenty  miles  without  stopping  but 
once  for  a  few  minutes'  rest,  and  late  in  the 
evening  we  put  up  at  a  small  inn  that  we  found 
near  some  clay  works,  and  which  looked  suitable 
to  our  slender  purses.  After  we  had  supped  and 
rested  a  bit,  I  took  out  my  concertina  and  began 
playing.  In  a  few  minutes  the  room  was  filled 
with  men  who  had  come  in  from  the  taproom.  A 
rough  lot  they  looked,  unshaven  and  covered  with 
yellow  clay,  yet  I  saw  one  of  them,  a  big  bearded 


HAIW  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  i& 

fellow,  sob  like  a  child  when  I  played  "  Home, 
Sweet  Home,"  and  none  of  the  others  either 
laughed  at  him  or  made  the  smallest  joke  on  the 
subject. 

The  landlord  was  so  delighted  with  iny  playing, 
or  perhaps  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  with 
the  effect  it  had  on  his  customers,  that  he  offered 
to  put  both  Jackson  and  myself  on  the  clay  works, 
that  belonged  to  him.  He  would  give  us  good 
wages,  and  I  would  get  something  more  if  I  would 
play  of  an  evening.  All  being  fish  that  came  to 
our  net,  we  closed  with  the  offer,  neither  of  us 
having  the  very  smallest  notion  as  to  what  our 
work  would  consist  of.  The  next  morning,  behold 
me  trudging  off  with  a  small  body  of  men  to  the 
clay  pit. 

The  day  before,  I  had  thought  the  labour  of 
filling  trucks  with  stones  a  very  arduous  one,  but 
it  was  as  child's  play  compared  to  this.  I  was 
taken  to  a  pit  of  wet  clay,  a  huge  shovel  was  put 
into  my  hands,  and  I  was  told  to  fill  a  rough, 
clumsily-made  barrow  that  stood  near.  It  was 
most  frightfully  hard  work,  the  wet  clay  was  as 
heavy  as  lead,  and  when  I  had  succeeded  in  half 
filling  my  shovel,  the  weight  was  so  great  as 
nearly  to  drag  me  over.  After  frantic  efforts  I 
succeeded  in  piling  up  my  barrow  with  the  un- 
sightly and  evil- smelling  mass,  and  then  stood 
wondering  what  I  was  expected  to  do  next.  I 
was  not  long  left  in  doubt.  The  man  who  had 
shown  me  my  work  c.ime  up,  eyed  me  for  a 


134  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  GOLONlM. 

moment   in   silence,   and   then   said,   laconically, 
"  Git  on." 

I  stared  around  me  to  see  what  I  was  to  "  git 
on."  Seeing  nothing,  I  politely  asked  for  infor- 
mation, and  was  rewarded  with  a  snort  of  contempt, 
and  the  question,  addressed  to  the  landscape, 
"  What  do  these  sickly  creeturs  mean  by  coming 
and  pretending  to  work  when  they  aint  strength 
enough  in  'em  to  kill  a  flea  ?  " 

Nature  not  answering  him,  nor  I  either,  he 
pointed  with  his  thumb  over  his  shoulder,  and 
said,  "Git  yer  clay  up  there;  yer  ought  to  have 
wheeled  three  barrers  ere  now." 

I  looked  in  the  direction  to  which  he  had 
pointed,  and  my  heart  sank.  A  very  short  but 
almost  precipitous  incline  led  up  to  a  single  plank 
that  was  thrown  across  a  ravine  some  seventy  feet 
from  the  ground.  On  the  opposite  side  of  this 
primitive  bridge  was  a  brick  kiln  and  all  the 
necessary  buildings  for  carrying  on  a  small  brick 
manufactory. 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  that  this  clay  must  be 
carried  up  there  ?  " 

'"Ivery  shovel  full,  git  on."  And  my  com- 
panion turned  away,  leaving  me  filled  with  despair 
at  the  task  before  me. 

However,  I  got  my  barrow  up  to  the  plank,  and 
my  seafaring  life  had  made  dizzy  heights  familiar 
to  me  ;  still,  if  I  must  confess  the  truth,  I  shrank 
back  from  crossing  that  wavering  plank  with  both 
my  hands  rendered  useless  by  the  necessity  of 


HARD  LItffi  Itf  THfi  COLONIES.  185 

wheeling  the  barrow.  In  the  very  middle  I  was 
seized  with  a  momentary  feeling  of  intense  and 
sickening  terror.  It  passed  away  almost  as  soon 
as  it  came,  but  I  reached  the  other  side  trembling 
like  a  leaf,  and  bathed  in  perspiration.  Each 
time  afterwards  that  I  crossed  over  I  felt  the 
same  sensation  at  the  same  spot,  and  dreaded  it 
so  much  that  I  feel  quite  sure  had  I  persisted  in 
the  work  I  should  have  gone  over,  barrow  and  all, 
into  the  clay  pit  that  yawned  some  seventy  feet 
below.  How  often  afterwards  in  dreams  have  I 
traversed  that  dreadful  piece  of  wood,  waking 
only  from  the  nightmare  by  the  agony  of  falling 
down,  down,  down. 

Well,  I  stood  this  work  exactly  three  days,  and 
they  might  have  been  three  ages.  On  the  evening 
of  the  third  day,  as  I  was  playing  in  the  taproom, 
I  made  a  sudden  resolution  to  go  away  at  day- 
break and  get  back  to  the  Sailors'  Home  at 
Melbourne.  I  would  not  say  anything  to  Jackson, 
for  he  would  have  insisted  on  following  me,  and 
that  would  have  been  a  pity,  for  he  was  quite 
happy  as  a  bricklayer  and  would  make  good  wages  ; 
besides,  having  deserted,  he  might  get  into  trouble 
if  seen  in  Melbourne.  I  explained  to  my  landlord, 
who,  although  sorry  to  lose  my  music,  was  evi- 
dently rather  glad  to  get  rid  of  so  poor  a  workman. 
He  paid  me  honestly  what  was  due,  and  undertook 
to  give  Jackson  a  letter,  in  which  I  told  him  my 
reasons  for  leaving  him,  and  said  that  I  intended 
going  back  to  sea. 


136  BARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

Having  settled  my  small  affairs,  I  lay  down  for 
a  few  hours'  sleep.  At  daybreak  I  rose,  and  with 
my  beloved  concertina  in  its  case  set  out  on  my 
road  back  to  Melbourne.  I  have  not  a  very 
distinct  recollection  of  that  walk,  for  I  seemed  to 
be  in  a  dream ;  at  midday  I  stopped  for  food  at  a 
roadside  inn,  and  must  have  appeared  strange  to 
the  people,  accustomed  as  they  were  to  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men,  for  the  landlord  sent  his 
son,  a  lad  of  fifteen  or  so,  to  walk  with  me  for  a 
time.  Finding  I  went  on  all  right  the  boy  left 
me  after  a  mile  or  two,  asking  for  a  shilling  for  the 
care  he  had  taken  of  me.  I  was  too  confused  and 
ill  to  protest,  or  even  understand,  gave  him  the 
money,  and  went  on.  How  I  got  safely  to  the 
Sailors'  Home  has  ever  been  a  puzzle  to  me ; 
however,  reach  it  I  did  late  in  the  evening,  ex- 
hausted and  almost  delirious.  I  was  carried  to 
bed,  where  I  remained  three  weeks  in  a  sort  of 
fever  brought  on  by  over-exertion. 

These  Sailors'  Homes  are  a  grand  institution, 
and  although,  like  with  most  institutions,  there 
are  many  points  that  might  be  altered  with  advan- 
tage, nevertheless  they  are  an  immense  boon,  and 
have  saved  many  a  man  from  sin  and  despair. 

As  soon  as  I  had  sufficiently  recovered  I  joined 
the  brig  Greyhound — the  last  voyage  as  sailor 
that  I  was  destined  ever  to  make.  The  Greyhound 
was  the  most  perfect  little  model  of  a  brig  that 
ever  was  built  to  delight  a  sailor's  heart.  She 
was  a  Portuguese,  and  had  been  first  used  in  that 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  137 

country  as  a  gun-boat.  She  floated  as  easily  and 
gracefully  as  a  swan  upon  the  water,  and  sailed 
better  than  any  vessel  I  had  ever  put  foot  in. 
All  her  fittings  were  of  the  best,  and  from  bow  to 
stern  there  was  not  one  clumsy  or  ill-done  piece 
of  work.  I  was  as  delighted  with  her  as  the 
captain,  whose  love  for  her  amounted  to  a  passion. 
He  was  never  so  happy  as  when  he  could  get  hold 
of  some  stranger  to  whom  he  could  point  out  all 
the  beauties  and  perfections  of  his  darling.  I 
firmly  believe  that  I  owed  my  berth  as  third 
mate,  to  my  unbounded  and  really  true  admiration 
of  the  Greyhound  as  she  lay  daintily  swaying  to 
and  fro,  riding  at  anchor  in  the  bay.  Captain 

S was  a  short,  round  man,  with  a  face  that 

reminded  one  irresistibly  of  a  rosy-cheeked  apple. 
A  good-hearted,  good-tempered  man,  whose  pas- 
sion was  never  roused  unless  some  real  or  fancied 
slur  was  cast  on  his  beloved  brig.  Then  his  rage 
would  pass  all  bounds.  It  was  a  curious  sight  to 
see  him,  dancing  up  and  down  the  deck,  his  little 
fat  legs  thrown  out  in  the  funniest  way;  now 
abusing  the  man  who  could  invent  such  lies,  now 
addressing  the  G-reyJiound  in  terms  of  affection  a 
mother  might  use  to  her  babe.  I  am  afraid  the 
officers  and  men,  too,  sometimes  made  up  stories 
of  some  supposed  slight,  in  order  to  see  "the 
skipper  dance." 

We  were  bound  for  Auckland,  New  Zealand. 
I  went  on  board  two  or  three  days  before  we 
started,  for  I  was  not  very  strong  yet,  and  I  hoped 


138  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE 

the  sea-air  would  do  more  to  recover  me  than 
pints  of  doctor's  stuff.  The  night  before  we  had 
intended  starting,  as  we  lay  at  anchor  out  in  the 
bay,  a  tremendous  "  sou'-wester  "  came  on  quite 
suddenly.  In  a  few  minutes  the  bay  was  lashed 
into  a  mass  of  seething  white  foam,  and  the  wind 
and  waves  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  as  to 
which  could  howl  and  shriek  the  loudest.  Several 
ships  were  torn  away  from  their  moorings  and 
dashed  into  each  other,  doing  endless  damage, 
and  causing  great  confusion  and  loss  of  life.  We 
were  anchored  rather  far  out,  and  hoped  to  escape; 
but  it  was  not  to  be.  A  large  two-master,  the 
Homesdale  from  London,  if  I  remember  rightly, 
broke  from  her  moorings,  drifted  down,  and  a  huge 
wave  dashed  her  into  us.  It  was  a  horrible 
moment.  By  the  light  of  the  moon,  as  she  sailed 
across  the  sky,  now  obscured  by  black  clouds,  now 
shining  forth  with  a  strong  light,  we  saw  this  huge 
dark  monster  bearing  down  upon  us,  and  we 
powerless  to  do  anything,  for  there  was  no  time. 

Captain  S gave  the  order  to  cut  our  anchor, 

a  useless  order,  as  he  well  knew,  but  right  never- 
theless ;  then  stood  with  wide-open  horrified  eyes 
waiting  for  the  destruction  of  his  beloved  ship. 
There  was  a  moment's  sickening  suspense,  as  the 
immense  black  object  hovered  over  us,  then  a 
thundering  blow  as  the  Homesdale  struck  against 
us  ;  a  crashing  and  smashing  of  timbers,  mingled 
with  the  roar  of  the  waves  and  the  howling  of  the 
wind.  The  Greyhound  bounded  from  the  shock  ; 


LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES*  139 

her  boats  were  smashed  to  pieces,  the  masts 
broken,  the  sails  torn  to  shreds,  and  one  side 
bulged  in :  but  to  our  utter  amazement  no  lives 
were  lost,  nor  did  the  Greyhound  sink,  as  we  fully 
expected.  We  got  into  the  dry  docks,  where  we 
remained  over  two  weeks  for  repairs.  Captain 

S fairly  wept  with  joy  when  he  saw  his  ship 

again  sailing  proudly  on  the  waters. 

We  weighed  anchor,  and  got  off  without  further 
mishap.  I  found,  somewhat  to  my  distress,  that 
my  health  did  not  much  improve,  and  any  sudden 
call  upon  me  taxed  my  strength  to  its  utmost. 
Among  the  crew  of  the  Greyhound  was  a  young 
fellow  with  whom  I  made  friends.  He  was  a 
gentleman  by  birth,  and  had  been  educated  for 
entering  the  law.  This,  however,  did  not  at  all 
suit  the  young  ideas  of  Master  Curly,  so  called 
by  a  fond  mother  on  account  of  his  wavy  hair, 
that  was  of  the  brightest  gold  that  I  think  I  ever 
saw  in  a  grown-up  person.  As  a  boy  he  was 
expelled  from  one  school  after  another,  more  for 
mischief  and  defiance  of  rules  than  for  graver 
sins,  and  having  exhausted  the  patience  of  his 
guardians  (his  father  had  died  when  he  was  a 
baby),  and  driven  his  eldest  brother,  a  grave 
lawyer,  almost  into  a  frenzy  by  the  tricks  he  per- 
formed in  the  office,  he  one  day,  after  a  worse 
escapade  than  usual,  ran  away  from  home,  joined 
a  ship  going  to  Melbourne,  with  some  vague  idea 
of  setting  up  sheep  farming  or  "something,"  as 
he  put  it.  Arriving  at  Melbourne,  he  wrote  to 


140  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

his  mother  (whose  darling  he  was)  saying  he 
could  not  bear  the  life  in  England  any  longer, 
and  hoped  she  would  send  him  money  to  enable 
him  to  set  up  as  a  horsedealer.  He  had  changed 
his  mind  about  the  sheep  farm.  While  awaiting 
her  reply  he  led  a  gay  life,  thoroughly  enjoying 
his  freedom,  and  having  no  fears  for  the  future. 

Poor  fellow,  the  letter  from  England  was  a  sad 
blow  to  him.  It  was  from  his  brother,  saying  that 
Curly 's  wicked  conduct  and  cruel  desertion,  coming 
upon  their  mother's  delicate  constitution,  had 
killed  her.  She  had  died  calling  for  her  youngest 
son.  He  added  that  it  was  useless  his  returning 
to  England ;  he  had  better  follow  the  life  he  had 
chosen.  He  enclosed  a  cheque  on  a  Melbourne 
bank  for  ,£100,  and  told  him  he  need  expect  no 
more  until  he  came  of  age,  when  he  would  get 
<£1,000  from  his  mother's  will.  Curly  was  heart- 
broken for  a  while,  for  he  loved  his  mother  dearly ; 
but  soon  his  gay  bright  nature  came  to  the  fore, 
and  he  quickly  made  an  end  of  the  £100.  An  appeal 
to  his  brother  resulted  in  his  letter  being  returned 
unopened,  and  Master  Curly  had  to  look  about 
for  means  of  earning  his  daily  bread. 

There  was  a  great  stir  at  tbis  time  about  the 
supposed  discovery  of  gold  in  the  town  Thames, 
in  Auckland,  and  he,  like  hundreds  of  others,  was 
bitten  with  the  gold-fever.  He  got  himself  taken 
on  board  the  Greyhound  as  "  ordinary  seaman," 
on  the  strength  of  having  learnt  a  few  things  on 
his  way  out  from  England,  and  was  now  looking 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  141 

forward  to  the  fortune  he  felt  sure  of  making  in 
the  gold-fields  of  the  Thames.  From  the  first  day, 
he  began  to  try  and  persuade  me  to  join  him,  and 
as  time  went  on  he  would  coax  and  scold,  until  I 
was  fairly  won  over  by  his  sunny  character  and 
wild  enthusiasm ;  the  more  so  as  there  was  some 
sense  in  what  he  said  as  to  a  seafaring  life  being 
evidently  unsuited  to  me,  at  all  events  in  my 
present  state  of  health.  When  I  suggested  that 
gold-digging  was  not  likely  to  be  child's  play — for 
I  had  a  shuddering  recollection  of  the  clay-pit — 
and  also  that  we  might  find  no  gold  at  all,  he 
eagerly  protested  against  any  such  impossible 
thing  happening,  drawing  vivid  pictures  of  fortunes 
made  almost  from  one  hour  to  another,  that  I  pro- 
mised to  go  with  him  and  share  his  fortunes,  more, 
I  think,  because  I  could  not  bear  to  separate  from 
him,  than  from  any  belief  in  the  mountains  of  gold 
that  were  to  be  ours.  The  voyage  passed  without 
any  incident  worth  mentioning.  A  sudden  storm, 
during  which  the  Greyhound  bore  herself  "  like  an 
angel,"  as  Captain  S —  -  said  with  more  enthu- 
siasm than  sense ;  the  illness  of  one  of  the  men, 
who  swallowed  some  drug  in  mistake  for  rum,  and 
thought  he  would  throw  up  his  immortal  soul  in 
consequence — "And  serve  'im  right,  too,"  as  the 
indignant  owner  of  the  drug  observed;  a  catch 
of  fish  off  Cape  Eegina  :  these  and  similar  small 
events  were  all  that  happened  to  disturb  the  even 
monotony  of  our  lives. 

In  due  time  we  entered  Kaipara  Harbour,  where 


142  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

I  bade  good-bye  to  Captain  S ,  who,  I  fear,  lost 

much  of  his  regard  for  me  when  he  found  that  I 
could  dream  of  deserting  the  Greyhound,  and 
preferred  digging  "in  the  dirty  earth  for  dirty  gold" 
to  a  joyous  life  on  the  ocean  wave.  But  I  had 
given  my  word  to  Curly,  and  we  started  off 
together  with  light  hearts,  lighter  purses,  and  a 
photograph  each  of  the  Greyhound,  a  parting  gift 
from  the  captain. 

And  thus  ended  the  last  voyage  I  was  ever 
destined  to  take  as  a  sailor. 

Curly  was  in  such  a  hurry  to  get  to  the  gold- 
fields,  that  he  would  not  allow  me  even  to  look 
around  the  town  we  were  in.  A  queer  little  train 
took  us  some  miles  on  our  journey,  then  we  were 
told  that  a  four  hours'  walk  would  bring  us  to  our 
destination. 

"  Did  you  observe  how  that  fellow  grinned  when 
we  said  we  were  going  to  the  gold-fields?"  I 
remarked  to  Curly. 

"Yes,  he  was  rejoicing  in  our  good  luck," 
answered  my  light-hearted  companion. 

"Hum,"  I  said  dubiously,  "such  men  are  more 
likely  to  rejoice  over  our  bad  fortune.  It  looks 
fishy  to  me." 

"  Now  don't  croak  like  a  bird  of  ill-omen,  there's 
a  good  fellow,"  pleaded  Curly.  "  Things  are  sure 
to  turn  out  right,  they  always  do,  so  shut  up." 

Having  no  answer  to  such  an  astounding  asser- 
tion, I  did  "  shut  up,"  and  we  set  out  on  our  walk. 
It  was  impossible  to  give  way  to  gloomy  thoughts 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  148 

with  Hope  in  person  chatting  gaily  by  my  side  ; 
now  relating  to  some  boyish  prank,  now  some 
tender  reminiscence  of  the  loved  and  loving 
mother,  over  whose  death  he  would  still  have 
passionate  outbursts  of  grief  and  remorse.  But 
with  Curly  smiles  soon  chased  tears  away,  and  he 
would  rattle  on  about  some  nonsense  or  fun,  with 
his  eyes  still  wet  with  tears. 

Night  came  on  before  we  had  reached  the  town 
where  we  had  hoped  to  sleep.  We  found  ourselves 
on  a  hill,  with  nothing  in  sight  but  more  hills  that 
seemed  to  stretch  away  in  an  endless  range.  At 
Auckland  we  had  provided  ourselves  with  blankets 
and  the  other  necessaries  for  a  miner's  life,  the 
purchase  of  which  articles  had  left  us  with  two 
shillings  between  us.  "  Heaps  enough,"  Curly  had 
gravely  observed,  "  for  what's  the  good  of  taking 
coals  to  Newcastle  !  " 

So  we  now  decided  to  camp  out  on  the  hills. 
We  quickly  made  a  fire  of  bush-wood,  quantities  of 
which  were  strewn  all  around,  ate  some  bread  and 
beef  we  had  been  wise  enough  to  put  in  our  knap- 
sacks, drank  a  modicum  of  rum  to  keep  out  the 
cold,  saw  that  our  guns  were  primed,  then  rolling 
ourselves  up  in  our  blankets,  soon  went  fast  asleep. 
I  was  aroused  by  feeling  something  cold  touching 
my  cheek,  and  opening  my  eyes  found  two  dogs 
sniffing  at  me  in  an  exhaustive  but  not  unkindly 
manner.  I  uncoiled  myself  from  my  blanket  and 
sat  up,  looking  around  me.  The  first  faint  flush 
of  early  dawn  was  tinging  the  sky  with  a  rosy 


144  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

light  that,  as  it  advanced,  seemed  to  put  out  the 
stars  one  by  one.  The  summits  of  several  of  the 
hills  were  enveloped  in  a  pink  cloudy  mist,  very 
beautiful  to  see.  Bringing  my  eyes  back  from  the 
hills,  I  saw  a  man,  the  owner  of  the  dogs,  standing 
motionless,  leaning  on  his  gun,  intently  watching 
us.  He  was  very  tall  and  thin,  with  a  face  bronzed 
by  exposure  to  all  weathers,  and  scarred  by  frequent 
fights  with  man  and  beast.  A  pair  of  small  sharp 
dark  eyes  gleamed  from  underneath  the  thickest 
eyebrows  I  ever  saw  on  a  human  face.  On  his 
head  was  a  soft  felt  hat  that  originally  had  been 
red  in  colour,  but  was  now  toned  down  to  what  I 
believe  artists  call  "  a  neutral  tint."  A  grey 
blouse,  much  the  worse  for  wear,  corduroy 
trousers,  and  high  boots  was  the  costume  of  our 
early  visitor. 

We  eyed  each  other  a  moment  in  silence. 

11  Going  to  the  gold-fields  ?  "  he  asked,  without 
changing  his  attitude  in  the  least. 

I  nodded. 

Then  he  raised  himself  with  a  jerk,  and  staring 
first  at  me  and  then  at  Curly,  who  had  just  woke 
up,  put  himself  into  the  most  extraordinary  con- 
tortions, induced  thereunto  by  a  paroxysm  of 
silent  laughter.  After  a  few  moments  of  this 
exercise,  various  smothered  "  Hee,  hee,  hee ; 
ho,  ho,  ho  ;  haw,  haw,  haw's  "  broke  from  him,  as 
he  continued  to  double  himself  up  in  an  agony  of 
mirth. 

"  Here,  I  say,"  cried  Curly,  starting  to  his  feet, 


LIFE  IN  TSE  COLONIES.  145 

with  his  hair  standing  out  all  around  his  head  like 
a  halo,  "when  you  have  finished  hee-hawing  like 
a  jackass,  perhaps  you  wouldn't  mind  telling  us  why 
you  stand  with  an  annuity  of  a  grin  that  reaches 
from  y'ear  to  y'ear. 

"  Hee,  hee,  hee;  ho,  ho,  ho  ;  haw,  haw,  haw  !  " 
was  all  the  answer  he  got.  I  began  quietly  rolling 
up  my  blanket  and  preparing  generally  for  a  start. 
Curly  did  the  same.  When  we  were  ready,  I 
turned  to  our  mirthful  friend  and  asked  him  if  he 
could  direct  us  the  nearest  way  to  Shortland,  as 
we  were  going  to  the  gold  diggings.  The  last  twro 
words  convulsed  the  man  more  than  ever.  He 
writhed  and  twisted  about  like  an  eel,  and  finally 
burst  forth  into  a  loud  and  long  guffaw  that  was 
echoed  by  the  hills  around. 

Irritated  by  this  behaviour,  I  shouldered  my 
knapsack,  and  with  Curly,  began  to  march  down 
the  hill,  when  we  were  called  back. 

"  Don't  be  angry,"  he  gasped  out,  u  but  I  really 
couldn't  help  it  when  you  mentioned  the  gold." 
The  mere  word  nearly  upset  him  again,  but 
struggling  against  it,  he  asked  if  we  would  break- 
fast with  him,  and  he  would  then  give  us  any 
information  in  his  power. 

I  didn't  half  like  accepting  the  man's  offer,  but 
Curly  closed  with  it  at  once,  and  in  another  minutt 
we  were  walking  along  by  the  stranger's  side,  whose 
fit  of  mirth  had  left  him  as  suddenly  as  it  had 
begun,  and  who  strode  on  in  dead  silence.  Curly 
touched  his  forehead  significantly  as  we  followed 
11 


146  BARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

our  host  into  a  roughly  built  hut,  under  the 
shelter  of  a  hill. 

The  room  we  entered  was  of  fair  size,  hung 
around  with  guns,  knives,  sacks  of  feathers,  and 
skins  of  beasts.  Nailed  against  the  wall,  without 
any  frame,  was  an  oil  painting  of  John  the 
Baptist  in  the  wilderness.  It  looked  strangely 
out  of  place  in  this  hovel,  and  was  evidently  a 
relic  of  better  days.  There  were  two  or  three 
other  things  that  showed  plainly  our  host  had  not 
always  been  a  bushranger  in  the  wilds  of  New 
Zealand — one  was  a  mug  that  he  handed  to  me 
full  of  coffee ;  it  was  battered  out  of  all  shape 
and  discoloured  by  time  and  want  of  cleaning,  but 
it  was  of  silver,  and,  what  is  more,  was  crested. 
Seeing  my  eyes  fixed  on  it,  he  hastily  filled  a 
larger  mug  and  passed  it  to  me,  taking  the  silver 
one  from  me  with  the  muttered  excuse  that  it  was 
too  small. 

A  large  square  table  occupied  the  centre  of  the 
room,  and  there  were  four  or  five  stools,  beyond 
that  no  furniture.  He  went  to  a  cupboard  and 
brought  out  three  mugs,  the  silver  one  afore- 
mentioned among  them,  some  plates,  a  cold  fowl, 
bread,  cheese,  and  butter.  A  wood  fire  was  burning 
brightly  in  the  grate,  over  which  hung  a  kettle, 
He  soon  made  some  splendid  coffee,  and  placing  it 
on  the  table,  boiled  milk  in  an  old  tin  pan,  and  in 
less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  our  entry  we 
were  seated  at  one  of  the  best  meals  I  ever 
remembered  to  have  eaten.  Our  host  told  us  his 


LIFE  IK  THE  COLONIES.  14? 

name  Was  Richards— a  polite  fiction  that  we  of 
course  passed  unnoticed ;  that  he  had  lived  here 
for  many  years,  "  Driven  from  the  Old  World,"  as 
he  said  with  bitterness,  "  by  the  falseness  and 
treachery  of  friends."  He  lived  by  hunting,  and 
lately  had  kept  a  large  poultry  farm  and  many  pigs, 
which  he  had  sold  to  the  crowd  of  miners  that 
had  flocked  to  the  gold-fields.  Again  a  spasmodic 
grin  convulsed  his  face,  so  I  asked  him  to  explain 
himself.  "  If  you  know  anything  against  it,  please 
tell  us  at  once.  I  have  never  been  so  sanguine 
about  it  as  my  friend  here,  and  am  quite  prepared 
to  find  that  the  gold  is  not  so  plentiful  as  has 
been  reported,  and  that  there  is  an  over-glut 
of  miners." 

Mr.  Richards  laughed  outright,  and  forthwith 
informed  us,  in  a  few  quiet  sentences,  that  the 
gold-field  was  a  fraud  and  a  swindle  got  up  by 
some  storekeepers  for  their  own  individual  profit. 
"  But  so  great  is  the  love  of  gold,  so  eager  the 
rush  after  it,  that  without  even  waiting  to  find  out 
what  truth  there  was  in  the  report,  hundreds  of 
men  flocked  to  the  spot  from  different  parts  of  the 
colonies,  and  even  from  America  and  Europe. 
There  are  now,"  continued  our  host,  "  over  seven 
hundred  fine  strong  young  miners,  who  can  get 
nothing  to  do  ;  let  alone  the  crowd  of  other  men 
who,  ignorant  of  and  unable  to  do  miners'  work, 
loaf  about  the  place,  half  starving  until  the 
Government  gives  them  a  free  passage  back  to 
their  colonies." 


148  BA&b  LIFE  IN  'USE  COLONIES. 

Even  Ourly's  bright  hopes  were  clouded  by  this 
grim  picture,  and  Mr.  Richards,  who  was  evidently 
much  taken  by  the  boy's  face  and  manner,  added 
kindly — 

"Don't  be  downhearted.  Seeking  for  gold  is 
not  the  only  object  of  a  man's  life.  Take  my 
advice,  go  back  to  England ;  this  hell  is  no  place 
for  honest  men,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  neither 
of  you  are  fitted  for  a  miner's  life.  It  gave  me  a 
sort  of  fierce  joy  to  see  how  men  would  leave 
home,  and  wife  and  children,  all  that  makes  life 
bearable,  on  the  chance  of  picking  up  a  few  nuggets 
of  gold,  which,  even  if  found,  could  never  give 
them  back  their  lost  health  and  honour.  I  am  a 
bit  of  a  misanthrope,  and  it  soothes  ine  to  see  men 
act  worse  than  the  wild  beasts;  but  to-day  I  would 
fain  dissuade  you  from  entering  such  a  life — not 
for  your  sake,"  he  added,  with  brutal  frankness, 
"  but  he,"  pointing  to  Curly,  "  reminds  me  of  some 
one  I  knew  years  ago,  and  I  would  spare  him  if  I 
could.  If  you  want  money  I  will  give  you  what 
is  necessary,  but  take  him  back,  take  him  away 
from  here,"  and  the  strange  man  began  pacing 
wildly  up  and  down  the  room. 

I  hardly  knew  what  to  do,  and  certainly  not 
what  to  say.  Perplexed  and  embarrassed,  I  re- 
mained silent.  Curly,  however,  settled  the  matter 
in  his  own  bright  way.  Going  up  to  our  host,  he  said 
with  his  boyish  impulsive  manner :  "It's  awfully 
good  of  you,  Mr.  Richards,  to  trouble  about  me, 
but  I'm  all  right ;  if  there's  no  gold  to  be  got  here, 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  149 

well  I'll  turn  hunter  like  you.  It's  no  good  return- 
ing to  England — I've  no  home  now,  and  no  means 
to  get  there,  and  gentlemen  who  are  strangers,  do 
not  accept  money  from  each  other.  There,  shake 
hands,  and  thanks  for  that  prime  breakfast.  Now 
we'll  go  and  look  around  a  bit,  something  good  is 
sure  to  turn  up,  it  always  does." 

Mr.  Richards,  who  had  drawn  back  when  Curly 
made  the  remark  about  gentlemen,  now  seized  the 
boy's  hands  in  his,  wrung  them  with  considerable 
force,  as  I  could  see  by  Curly's  grimace,  then  shak- 
ing hands  more  calmly  with  me  accompanied  us  to 
the  door. 

"Good-bye,"  cried  Curly;  "we  will  come  and 
look  you  up  in  your  diggings  again  before  long." 

Mr.  Richards  did  not  answer,  but  turned  into 
his  hut  and  we  heard  him  bar  the  door. 

"Decidedly  a  tile  loose,"  said  Curly,  as  we 
turned  our  steps  towards  the  town. 

"The  man  is  a  gentleman.  Some  sad  history 
must  be  buried  away  in  his  heart.  Poor  fellow, 
what  a  miserable  world  it  is,"  I  remarked  dolefully. 

"  Now  there  you  go  croaking  again,  and  in  the 
face  of  such  a  scene  as  this.  I  say,  we  will  look 
over  the  towns  and  gold-fields,  and  if  we  find  old 
Richards  was  right,  why  we'll  turn  hunters,  that 
would  suit  your  health  far  better." 

So  chatting  now  about  one  thing,  now  about 
another,  we  soon  got  over  some  ten  or  twelve  miles 
and  reached  the  Thames. 

^Ye  found  the  Thames  consists  of  two  towns, 


IfiO  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

Graham  Town  and  Shortland,  connected  together 
by  a  long  straggling  road  of  the  roughest  descrip- 
tion. At  intervals  a  few  houses  relieved  the 
monotony  of  the  scene ;  most  of  these  were  empty, 
and  already  falling  into  ruins.  In  Shortland,  the 
most  prominent  feature  was  a  construction  known 
as  "  Smale's  Building."  It  consisted  of  two  long 
rows  of  rooms,  reaching  from  the  main  street  back 
to  the  beach,  a  distance  of  not  less  than  a  mile. 
It  was  a  speculation  on  the  part  of  an  enterprising 
Methodist  minister,  at  the  time  the  gold  fever  first 
broke  out. 

Now  that  it  was  ended  (for  we  soon  found  out 
that  all  Mr.  Eichards  had  said  was  true),  the  Eev. 
Smale  increased  his  already  large  fortune  by  letting 
out  the  lower  rooms  to  stockbrokers,  while  the 
upper  ones  were  hired  by  any  one  who  could  afford 
to  pay  five  shillings  a  week  for  the  luxury  of  four 
walls  with  a  roof  over  them. 

The  next  building  of  importance  belonged  to  a 
native  chief,  whose  name  was  Taipari.  He  had  a 
really  fine  residence,  built  according  to  European 
notions  on  many  points,  which  looked  odd,  con- 
trasted with  several  relics  of  barbarism,  that  I  sup- 
pose the  noble  savage  could  not  or  would  not 
dispense  with.  This  house  stood  in  its  own 
grounds,  the  gardens  being  kept  in  order  by 
Europeans,  who  were  liberally  paid  by  their  dusky 
master. 

Taipari  was  a  tall  handsome  man,  with  well- 
shaped  limbs,  and  a  graceful  carriage.  His  face 


TAIPARI. 
(After  a  Photograph.) 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  151 

was  very  much  tatooed,  of  which  fact  he  was  inor- 
dinately proud.  When  I  saw  him,  he  dressed  like  a 
European,  and  it  was  his  delight  to  fill  his  palace 
with  any  European  ladies  and  gentlemen  who 
would  go  there.  The  whole  town  of  Shortland 
helongs  to  him,  for  which  the  white  residents  "pay 
him  rent.  He  was  named  Colonel  of  the  Hauraki 
Rifles  (a  company  of  which  I  subsequently  became 
a  member),  and  was  by  no  means  to  be  despised  as 
a  soldier.  He  gave  balls  and  fetes,  of  magnificent 
if  barbaric  splendour,  to  the  white  colony,  and 
looked  imposing  in  his  colonel's  uniform. 

Before  the  gold  rush  broke  out,  Taipari's  usual 
place  of  repose  was  an  old  cask,  nor  had  he  the 
traditional  rag  to  his  back.  His  followers  were  few 
and  miserable,  and  he  himself  ignorant  to  the  last 
degree.  Now  he  possesses  the  whole  of  Shortland, 
with  an  income  of  over  £8,000  a  year.  English 
ladies  do  not  shun  his  society,  indeed  it  is  said 
that  more  than  one  would  not  have  refused  to 
become  Mrs.  Taipari,  if  the  noble  savage  could  be 
made  to  understand  and  acquiesce  in  the  law  that 
allows  a  man  only  one  wife  at  a  time. 

But  to  return  to  the  town  of  Shortland.  We 
found  it  contained  the  usual  grocery,  fruit,  vege- 
table, baker,  butcher,  drug,  dry  goods  and  liquor 
stores,  demanded  by  any  town  however  small. 
There  was  also  an  armoury  of  the  Hauraki  Rifles, 
which  was  sometimes  cleared  out  and  used  for  a 
concert-room.  Shortland  possessed  also  a  theatre. 
Never  having  entered  it,  I  cannot  give  any  account 


152  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

of  the  performances  enacted  there,  but  to  judge  by 
the  crude  and  horrible  pictures  on  the  signboard, 
lovers  of  the  terrible  and  sentimental  would  be 
abundantly  satisfied. 

Where  Shortland  ends,  a  tiny  pier  juts  out  into 
the  sea.  Two  small  steamers  plying  between  this 
settlement  and  Auckland,  land  stores  and  vegetables 
two  or  three  times  a  week.  The  whole  town  is 
built  on  a  level  with  the  sea,  so  when  there  is  a 
high  tide  the  place  is  under  water. 

Graham  Town  belonged  to  the  man  from  whom 
it  received  its  name,  an  Englishman,  who  in  a  fit 
of  inspiration  and  speculation  built  first  one  house 
and  then  another  for  settlers,  and  when  the  gold 
cry  was  raised,  quickly  made  his  fortune  by  build- 
ing a  town.  In  England  one  is  not  accustomed  to 
hear  of  a  town  being  built  by  one  man,  but  in 
Australia  there  is  nothing  impossible  in  either  the 
idea  or  the  fact.  Like  Shortland,  Graham  Town 
is  built  on  low  land,  and  is  generally  under  water. 
If  you  want  to  know  what  real  mud  is  like,  go 
there  and  you  will  see  it  in  its  perfection. 

Nevertheless  it  is  a  far  larger  and  more  impor- 
tant town  than  Shortland,  possessing  a  good 
wharf,  three  fine  hotels,  two  banks,  a  large  theatre, 
and  some  very  fair  houses.  The  rage  for  building 
was  still  very  strong  when  we  were  there,  for  al- 
though that  one  particular  gold-field  was  proved  a 
swindle,  other  mines  that  had  been  long  worked 
were  in  the  vicinity,  and  Mr.  Graham  rapidly 
became  a  millionaire, 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  153 

At  the  back  of  both  these  towns  rose  the  moun- 
tains, from  one  of  which  jthe  Karraka  Creek  ran 
straight  into  Shortland.  On  the  hills  around 
G-raham  Town  are  some  of  the  most  important 
mines,  the  principal  ones  being  "  The  Golden 
Crown,"  "  The  Long  Drive,"  and  "  Crown  Point." 
Most  of  the  others  were  what  is  called  in  mining 
phraseology  "  shysters,  or  wild  cat,"  and  were  of 
little  value. 

Curly  and  I  wandered  about  all  day  taking  notes. 
We  saw  that  the  gold  craze  had  already  died  out, 
but  we  also  saw  the  effect  of  the  cruel  deception  in 
the  hundreds  of  able-bodied  men  that,  homeless  and 
penniless,  were  besieging  the  houses  of  the  few  rich 
people  clamouring  for  work,  or  a  piece  of  bread  to 
keep  them  from  starvation. 

I  sickened  at  the  sight,  and  perhaps  with  a  pre- 
sentiment of  our  future ;  but  Curly  never  lost 
heart,  and  even  when  things  were  at  their  worst 
had  ever  a  bright  word  or  a  sunny  smile. 

I  have  put  off  speaking  of  this  awful  time  as  long 
as  possible.  After  all  these  years,  my  heart 
shrinks  back  from  the  memory  of  that  dire  misery 
and  black  despair.  Let  me  hurry  over  it.  These 
are  true  bare  facts  that  I  am  relating,  and  I  cannot 
put  them  into  well-rounded  sentences,  or  enlarge 
upon  the  incidents  that  well  nigh  overwhelmed  me 
at  the  time.  That  life  is  stranger  than  fiction  is 
a  trite  saying,  but  only  those  who  have  passed  a 
roving  and  adventurous  life  know  how  true  it  is. 

Our  first  da.y  at  Sliortland  exhausted  our  money 


154  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

— we  had  only  two  shillings — and  we  spent  the 
next  morning  searching  for  work,  without  any 
success.  So  we  sold  our  blankets  for  a  few  pence, 
their  being  a  glut  of  them  at  the  pawnbroker's. 
After  our  blankets  went  our  guns,  neckties,  the 
one  change  of  linen,  and  an  extra  pair  of  boots  of 
Curly's.  Then  we  found  ourselves  with  what  we 
stood  up  in,  without  a  cent  in  the  world,  and  little 
chance  of  getting  any  work.  I  remembered  my 
beloved  concertina,  which  I  had  placed  in  a  corner 
of  a  half-finished  house  in  which  we  had  taken  up 
our  abode,  rent  free.  Taking  Curly  with  me,  we 
went  to  the  drinking-house,  and  I  commenced 
playing.  The  effect  was  electric;  pennies  rained 
down,  and  on  counting  up  we  found  I  had  netted 
four  shillings  and  threepence.  What  castles  in 
the  air  Curly  built  that  night  as  we  sat  in  our 
mansion,  as  he  called  it,  discussing  some  bread 
and  meat  and  beer  that  we  had  allowed  ourselves 
on  the  strength  of  our  fortune  ! 

We  were  awakened  by  a  feeling  of  wet.  Starting 
to  my  feet,  I  found  the  place  flooded.  Hastily 
rousing  Curly,  we  made  our  escape,  not  without 
difficulty,  for  the  tide  was  coming  in  swiftly, 
increased  by  a  sea  wind.  After  some  twenty 
minutes'  unpleasant  floundering  about  we  reached 
dry  land,  wet  to  the  bone  and  shivering  with  the 
cold.  The  night  being  very  dark  added  to  our 
discomfort,  Curly's  teeth  chattered  like  castanets, 
and  I  made  him  keep  moving  about.  We  groped 
pur  way  into  the  town,  and  I  roused  up  an  olcl 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  155 

fellow  we  knew  who  let  out  seats  around  a  fire  at 
a  penny  an  hour.  He  grumbled  a  good  deal  at 
being  disturbed,  but  I  paid  him  threepence  at 
once,  pushed  him  aside,  threw  some  logs  on  the 
nearly  dead  fire,  and  made  Curly  dry  himself,  and 
then  lie  down  near  the  warmth.  Suddenly  he 
called  out,  "I  say,  Gilbert,  your  concertina,  have 
you  got  it?" 

I  started  to  my  feet.  I  had  quite  forgotten  it ; 
if  that  was  gone,  our  chance  of  living  was  gone 
too.  "  It  will  be  all  right,"  I  said,  though  my 
heart  sank.  "  I  know  where  I  left  it.  I  will  go 
and  fetch  it  the  first  thing  in  the  morning." 

Curly  was  soon  asleep,  but  anxiety  for  the 
future  kept  me  awake,  and  with  the  first  rays  of 
sunrise  I  was  up,  and,  telling  old  Simon  that  I 
would  return  shortly,  and  Curly  was  not  to  be 
disturbed,  went  back  to  the  scene  of  last  night's 
disaster. 

The  tide  had  gone  back,  but  the  scene  was 
desolate  and  miserable  in  the  extreme.  Wading 
through  the  liquid  mud,  I  reached  the  half-built 
house  that  had  sheltered  us,  and  saw  that  the 
outer  wall  had  been  washed  down.  My  concertina 
was  buried  beneath  the  debris.  For  two  hours  I 
worked  at  removing  the  stones,  and  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  uncovering  the  instrument.  It  was 
smashed  to  pieces.  I  stood  staring  at  it  for  a 
while,  wondering  what  could  be  £one  now ;  then 
remembering  Curly,  I  turned  my  steps  sadly 
townwards,  with  my  mutilated  and  dead  concer- 


156  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

tina  in  my  hands.  At  the  door  Simon  met  me 
with  the  words,  "  You  must  take  that  'ere  boy  out 
of  this,  he's  going  to  be  ill,  and  I  can't  have  no 
fevers  here." 

In  a  moment  I  was  by  Curly 's  side.  He  lay  on 
the  floor ;  his  fair  hair  tossed  about,  and  his  beau- 
tiful face  flushed.  His  hands  were  burning,  and 
he  muttered  incoherently. 

"  Tek  him  away,  I  say;  I  won't  have  him  here," 
cried  Simon,  who  had  followed  me. 

"  I  will  not  take  him  away.  Move  him  into  a 
room  where  there  is  a  bed.  I  have  money,"  I 
said,  showing  him  one  or  two  of  the  precious  three 
shillings  that  were  left  to  me. 

The  old  sinner  consented.  Between  us  we 
lifted  Curly  into  a  cupboard — it  was  barely  more, 
but  there  was  a  low  iron  bed  there.  I  sat  by  him 
for  some  hours,  but,  finding  he  did  not  change, 
went  out  to  the  drug  store  and  asked  what  was 
necessary  in  such  a  case  as  his.  The  man,  who 
seemed  intelligent,  gave  me  a  bottle  of  medicine, 
for  which  I  paid  a  shilling. 

The  next  ten  days  were  a  hideous  nightmare. 
Having  given  Simon  the  last  two  shillings,  I  was 
forced  to  go  out  and  seek  for  work.  One  day  I 
walked  to  the  coast  of  Tararu,  thinking  I  might 
get  some  work  at  shovelling  sand,  but  found  at 
least  a  hundred  men  who  had  gone  for  the  same 
purpose.  Only  ten  were  needed.  I  next  tried  to 
get  work  on  a  tramway  up  in  the  hills  near  the 
Karraka  Creek,  with  the  same  result.  I  should 


LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  157 

most  assuredly  have  starved  had  I  not  somehow 
made  a  friend  of  a  waiter  in  one  of  the  hotels,  who 
sometimes  of  an  evening  would  give  me  some  food 
at  the  back  door,  and  several  times  he  gave  me  a 
bottle  of  soup  for  Curly,  who  lay  still  unconscious 
most  of  the  time.  Old  Simon  was  always  asking 
for  more  money  and  threatening  to  turn  us  out. 
I  made  a  shilling  one  day  carrying  some  of  the 
luggage  for  one  of  the  passengers  who  had  come 
from  Auckland,  and  that  kept  the  old  man  quiet 
for  two  more  days.  My  food  was  two  biscuits  a 
day,  excepting  when  my  friend  the  waiter  gave 
me  anything,  that  was  not  often,  for  all  the 
houses  were  besieged  with  starving  men.  I  would 
not  go  until,  having  passed  two  whole  days  with- 
out a  bite  or  sup  passing  my  lips,  I  was  driven  to 
it,  fearing  I  should  fall  ill.  One  morning  I  heard 
of  a  Maori  chief  who  wanted  some  white  men  to 
pick  potatoes.  Leaving  Curly  as  comfortable  as  I 
could,  I  set  out  for  the  Maori  settlement,  some 
five  or  six  miles  beyond  Shortland.  I  had  to 
swim  a  creek  to  get  to  it,  and  when  I  arrived, 
wet  and  starving,  found  it  was  a  false  rumour. 
Doggedly  I  dragged  myself  back  to  Shortland. 
At  the  wharf  I  got  a  job  of  unloading  a  vessel 
of  potatoes,  but  was  so  weak  and  wasted  from 
want  of  food  and  misery  that  I  was  unable  to 
carry  the  sacks.  Seeing  me  stagger,  four  or  five 
men,  on  the  look  out  for  work,  rushed  forward 
fighting  and  struggling,  and  so  I  lost  that.  The 
captain  gave  me  a  pocketful  of  potatoes.  I 


158  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

lighted  a  fire  on  the  beach  and  roasted  them ; 
then,  somewhat  strengthened,  hurried  back  to 
Curly.  Going  to  his  room,  I  found  it  occupied 
by  a  stranger,  who  could  not  or  would  not  answer 
my  frantic  inquiries  as  to  where  my  friend  was. 
Old  Simon  was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  but  on  my 
swearing  that  I  would  set  fire  to  the  house  if  he 
didn't  show,  he  emerged  from  the  cellar. 

"  Where  is  Curly  ?  "  I  asked,  seizing  him  by  the 
throat  and  shaking  him  until  all  his  bones  rattled. 
Some  men  separated  us,  or  I  think  I  should  have 
killed  him.  I  was  desperate. 

"  Old  Simon  has  ousted  his  mate,"  said  one  of 
the  men.  Turning  to  me,  he  added,  "Don't  yer 
take  on.  The  boy's  gone  to  a  chum  in  the  hills." 

"But  he  couldn't  move,"  I  said.  "I  left  him 
this  morning  unconscious.  Do,  for  God's  sake, 
some  one,  tell  me  where  he  is." 

Simon  then  muttered  that,  a  cart  happening  to 
be  going  to  the  hills,  he  had  put  Curly  into  it,  as 
the  boy  had  said  that  he  had  a  friend  there ;  that 
he  couldn't  keep  him  any  longer — the  room  was 
wanted,  and  I  might  go  too  as  soon  as  I  liked. 

In  a  moment  I  saw  what  had  happened.  Curly 
and  I  had  spoken  of  Mr.  Eichards  before  old 
Simon,  and  I  had  said  we  would  go  to  him  as  soon 
as  he  could  walk.  When  we  were  starving,  I  went 
alone,  only  to  find  the  house  closed  up  and  no 
trace  of  Eichards.  I  had  said  nothing  of  my 
failure  to  Simon,  fearing  he  might  turn  us  out. 
Having  a  chance  of  letting  his  room,  he  had  seized 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  159 

the  excuse  of  sending  Curly  "to  a  friend,"  and 
had  turned  the  sick  lad  out  without  a  moment's 

Pity- 
Maddened  with  rage   and    grief,   I   sprang    at 

Simon,  and,  before  any  one  could  interfere,  dashed 
him  with  all  my  force  to  the  ground,  and,  without 
waiting  to  see  if  I  had  killed  him  or  not,  went 
quickly  out  towards  the  hills. 

Evening  was  coming  on  as  I  reached  the  bottom 
of  the  hill  that  led  to  Richards'  hut.  I  seemed 
endowed  with  miraculous  strength,  and  hurried 
on,  tormented  by  fears  as  to  how  and  where  I 
should  find  Curly.  No  cart  was  to  be  seen 
returning,  but  then  it  might  not  come  back ; 
I  had  not  thought  of  asking  where  the  man  was 
going.  Perhaps  he  would  take  Curly  on  when 
he  found  Richards'  house  shut  up,  or  perhaps 
Richards  might  have  returned.  At  last  I  reached 
the  little  hut.  It  was  still  closed,  and  looked 
deserted.  Sick  at  heart,  I  turned  away,  when  I 
observed  the  trace  of  cart-wheels  that  had 
evidently  stopped  here,  and  then  gone  on. 
Somewhat  cheered  by  this  proof  of  Curly 's  near 
presence,  and  the  fact  that  the  man  in  whose  care 
he  had  been  placed  had  not  left  him  outside  the 
empty  house — for  life  is  held  very  cheap  in  these 
places — I  followed  the  tracks  of  the  cart. 

Reaching  the  summit  of  the  hill,  I  saw  the  cart 
at  the  foot  of  it.  The  horse  had  been  taken  out 
and  was  grazing.  Giving  a  loud  cou-ee,  I  ran  down 
at  full  speed.  A  rough-looking  man  came  towards 


160  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

me  with  his  gun  ready  cocked,  but  lowered  it  on 
my  hasty  explanation.  I  went  to  the  cart,  and 
there,  lying  on  a  lot  of  straw,  and  covered  with 
some  sacks,  lay  Curly.  He  opened  his  eyes  as  I 
bent  over  him,  knew  me,  and  said,  with  his  sunny 
smile,  "  Don't  croak,  old  fellow,  but  I  must  sleep," 
and  immediately  fell  into  a  doze. 

The  carter  told  me  that  Simon  had  called  him 
in*  that  morning,  asked  him  to  take  the  lad  up  to 
the  hut  on  the  hill,  that  the  man  there  would  pay 
him  well.  Curly  had  been  lifted  in,  Simon  vowing 
that  there  was  nothing  the  matter  with  him  but 
what  food  and  rest  would  set  right.  Curly  had 
slept  the  whole  way,  and  it  was  only  when  Richards' 
hut  had  been  reached  that  the  man  saw  not  only 
that  the  boy  was  really  ill,  but  that  the  house  had 
been  deserted  some  time,  and  he  had  been  tricked 
by  the  old  sinner.  Too  good-hearted  to  leave  the 
boy,  he  brought  him  on,  meaning  to  put  him  in 
the  hospital  at  Auckland  when  he  got  there. 

He  made  a  fire,  for  the  night  was  cold,  and  the 
carter  shared  his  meal  of  bread  and  meat  with  me. 
He  lived  at  Auckland,  he  told  me,  and  was  in  the 
employ  of  a  corn  factor,  who  sent  him  now  and 
then  to  Shortland  with  a  cart  of  sacks  of  flour, 
which  he  sold  to  the  wayside  houses.  What  was 
sold  in  the  two  towns  was  sent  by  steamer. 

The  night  passed  on.  The  carter,  stretching 
himself  on  some  empty  sacks,  fell  asleep.  I  got 
into  the  cart  by  the  side  of  Curly,  but  I  could  not 
close  my  eyes.  Sitting  there  in  the  stillness  and 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  161 

solemnity  of  night,  all  seemed  unreal  to  me,  my 
life  was,  as  it  were,  suspended.  I  seemed  waiting 
for  something,  I  knew  not  what.  Curly  lay  sleep- 
ing peacefully,  looking  better  than  he  had  done 
since  that  cold  had  seized  him,  and  I  felt  content 
about  him,  although  T  knew  not  what  would  become 
of  us,  or  where  I  should  take  him  on  the  morrow. 
The  first  rays  of  the  rising  sun  shot  across  the  sky 
as  Curly  opened  his  eyes  and  looked  at  me.  My 
heart  gave  a  throb  of  joy  as  I  saw  he  was  conscious. 
Eaising  him  in  my  arms,  I  propped  him  up  against 
the  side  of  the  cart.  He  looked  towards  the  rising 
sun,  his  eyes  shining  with  a  wonderful  brilliancy, 
then  turning  to  me  said,  "  There's  a  good  time 
coming,  Gilbert,  a  good — time — coming." 

How  can  I  describe  what  happened  then  ?  it  is 
all  blurred  in  my  memory — for  it  was  so  sudden,  so 
unexpected.  I  recollect  only  a  short  struggle  for 
breath,  a  convulsive  movement,  a  sunny  smile,  a 
peaceful  sigh — and  Curly  was  dead. 

We  buried  him  that  same  evening,  pulling  up  a 
young  tree  by  tying  a  horse  to  it,  and  enlarging 
the  hole  with  spokes  taken  from  one  of  the  wheels. 
He  looked  so  beautiful  and  peaceful  with  the  smile 
still  on  his  lips,  that  I  could  only  thank  God  that 
for  him  the  "  good  time  "  had  come. 

I  think  grief  and  misery  must  rather  have 
affected  my  head  for  a  time,  because  I  utterly 
refused  to  go  with  the  carter  to  Auckland ;  the 
sight  of  the  man  and  the  horse  and  the  cart  seemed 
to  drive  me  into  a  frenzy.  He  gave  me  some  food, 
12 


162  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

and  I  set  off  in  the  direction  of  Shortland;  but 
night  found  me  on  Curly's  grave,  though  I  have  no 
recollection  of  how  I  got  there. 

With  the  morning  came  a  change  of  mood. 
Reckless  and  bitter,  I  turned  from  the  grave  and, 
without  looking  back,  mounted  the  hill,  passed 
Richards'  house,  and  on  into  Shortland. 
*  The  next  six  or  seven  weeks  of  my  life  I  will 
pass  over  with  but  few  words.  It  was  a  desperate 
fight  among  desperate  men  for  bread  to  keep  one 
from  starving.  Over  and  over  again  death  stared 
me  in  the  face,  now  through  accident,  now  through 
a  quarrel,  now  from  hunger ;  but  I  always  escaped. 
Once  swimming  across  a  creek  I  got  cramp,  and 
being  perfectly  indifferent,  let  myself  sink,  but 
found  myself  on  the  opposite  shore  some  hours 
after,  having  been  hauled  in  by  a  passing  boat. 
The  humanity  of  my  rescuers,  however,  not  being 
strong  enough  to  do  anything  but  toss  me  out  on 
the  sand.  An  old  man  who  had  witnessed  the 
scene  told  me  of  it  when  he  saw  I  was  alive.  It 
had  not  entered  his  head  to  help  me  until  he  saw 
me  move.  You  see,  dead  men  are  useless,  but  a 
penny  might  be  got  out  of  a  live  one. 

You  may  wonder,  perhaps,  why  I,  a  sailor,  could 
not  get  away  to  Auckland,  and  ship  from  there. 
It  was  impossible.  Once  in  Shortland  or  Graham 
Town,  a  man  was  like  a  rat  in  a  trap,  if  he  had  no 
money,  for  the  two  steamboats  that  called  twice  a 
week  were  so  small  that  there  was  no  chance  of 
becoming  a  "  stowaway."  Many  had  tried  it,  but  as 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  163 

the  boats  were  strictly  examined  before  starting 
no  one  had  succeeded,  and  the  passage  money 
demanded  was  very  high.  To  attempt  to  reach 
Auckland  by  land  was  hopeless  now  in  November, 
with  no  shoes  to  my  feet  and  no  money  to  buy 
food  to  carry  with  me. 

One  cold  wet  night  I  was  wandering  about  out- 
side the  town,  when  a  man  passed  me  and  entered 
a  half  shed,  half  tent  that  stood  near.  I  leant 
against  a  tree  and  lazily  watched  him  as  he  lit  a 
lamp,  stirred  up  a  wood  fire  and  put  something  into 
a  saucepan.  I  had  eaten  nothing  for  the  day,  but 
felt  neither  hunger  nor  thirst.  I  was  simply 
numbed,  morally  and  physically.  We  can  only 
suffer  up  to  a  certain  point,  after  that  mercifully 
comes  indifference. 

The  man  came  out  for  water,  looked  at  me 
keenly  for  a  moment,  flashing  his  lantern  into  my 
face  for  the  purpose  of  investigation,  and  said, 
"  Down  on  your  luck,  mate  ?  Come  in  if  you  like, 
there's  plenty  of  room  for  two."  I  followed  him 
in,  and  soon  felt  it  was  more  agreeable  to  be  near 
a  fire  than  out  in  the  pouring  rain.  He  went  on 
with  his  preparations  for  supper  without  noticing 
me,  but  when  it  was  cooked  he  poured  it  out  into 
two  large  plates,  and  shoving  a  knife  and  fork  across 
the  table,  said  briefly,  "Eat." 

It  was  a  sort  of  Irish  stew,  I  remember,  and  as  I 
ate,  the  feeling  of  stolid  indifference  left  me,  and 
I  again  recognized  that  the  world  looks  vastly 
different  when  viewed  by  a  man  warm  and  well- 


164  HAED  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

fed,  than  it  does  to  that  same  man  wet,  cold,  and 
starving.  A  tankard  of  beer  unloosed  our  tongues, 
and  Jack  Ward,  for  such  was  my  host's  name,  told 
me  that  I  might  sleep  there,  and  if  I  cared  to  do 
so,  take  up  my  abode  altogether.  I  was  to  provide 
my  own  grub,  and  when  in  luck  to  pay  a  dinner. 
He  told  me  that  he  was  working  at  an  iron  foundry 
a  'long  way  off,  which  prevented  his  being  back 
until  very  late  at  nights.  I  thought  his  explana- 
tion unnecessary,  but  closed  with  his  offer,  and  for 
many  weeks  had  the  shelter  at  night,  and  when 
more  than  usually  unlucky  in  getting  a  stray  piece 
of  work,  and  consequently  without  food,  Ward, 
who  was  always  well  supplied,  would  force  me  to 
share  with  him. 

I  had  been  with  him  for  several  weeks  before  I 
began  to  suspect  that  the  story  of  the  iron  foundry 
was  untrue.  In  the  first  place  he  was  most  tin- 
punctual;  I  always  left  him  rolled  up  in  his  blanket, 
and  if  by  chance  I  came  back  during  the  day,  very 
generally  found  him  still  asleep,  or  lazily  doing 
nothing.  The  only  thing  he  was  regular  about 
was  returning  late  at  nights ;  and  he  frequently  had 
money  that  he  rattled  ostentatiously  before  me. 

At  last,  one  night  he  came  in,  in  the  wildest  of 
spirits,  and  threw  a  handful  of  gold  and  silver  on 
the  table.  "Wliy  don't  you  ask  where  I  get  it 
from ?  "  he  said;  "  I  might  be  able  to  put  you  up 
to  a  wrinkle." 

"  How  do  you  get  it  ?  "  I  asked,  quietly  ;  "in  the 
iron  foundry  ?  " 


LWE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  l6S 

"Not  such  a  fool.  No,  I  make  it  by  'rolling 
drunks.'  " 

My  readers  will  probably  not  know  what  the  two 
words  uttered  by  my  respectable  friend  mean. 
Simply  this,  to  "roll  drunks "  was  to  frequent  drink- 
ing saloons,  to  follow  any  man  who  left  drunk,  roll 
him  into  the  gutter  and  rob  him  of  his  watch  or 
money,  or  whatever  he  had  of  value  on  him. 

"Look  here,  I'll  make  you  a  handsome  offer. 
You  join  me — two  can  do  ever  so  much  better  than 
one,  and  I  bet  that  before  the  winter's  over  our 
fortunes  will  be  made.  Here's  my  hand  on  it," 
and  the  scoundrel  absolutely  held  out  his  hand  to 
clench  the  bargain. 

Choking  with  rage  and  shame,  I  told  him  in  a 
few  incoherent  passionate  words  what  I  thought  of 
him,  and  raising  the  flap  of  the  tent  rushed  out 
into  the  dark  night,  once  more  homeless  and 
friendless.  I  wandered  about  all  night ;  for  it  was 
too  cold  to  seek  shelter  in  any  half-built  house, 
and  could  not  help  regretting  the  warm  bed  and 
good  food  that  had  been  mine  for  so  many  weeks 
now.  It  maddened  me  to  think  that  I  owed  it  to 
such  a  rascal  as  Jack  Ward ;  even  the  coat  I  had 
on  me  he  had  given,  a  heavy  blue  thing  miles  too 
big  for  me,  but  warm  and  without  holes ;  my  boots 
too  were  his  gift,  stolen  from  some  poor  drunken 
sot,  no  doubt.  I  wondered  what  I  should  do  now, 
and  my  heart  sank  at  the  prospect  of  passing 
again  through  that  time  of  black  misery  from  which 
Jack  Ward  had  rescued  me.  Had  I  only  been  taught 


166  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

a  trade,  little  or  none  of  the  hardships  need  have 
happened;  but  like  all  other  gentlemen's  sons,  I 
was  taught  only  what  was  utterly  useless,  and  soon 
forgotten.  Latin  and  Greek  will  not  keep  a  man 
from  starving. 

I  had  walked  into  Shortland  by  the  time  day 
broke,  and  was  hesitating  what  piece  of  work  to 
try  for,  when  I  was  accosted  by  a  soldier,  who 
asked  if  I  would  join  a  company  of  volunteers  who 
were  going  to  the  front  against  Te'  Kooti. 

I  said  "yes."  When  he  further  stated  that  we 
must  depart  the  first  thing  to-morrow  morning,  I 
replied  that  I  was  ready  to  start  on  the  instant  if 
necessary. 

"  Well,  cut  off  about  two  feet  from  that  long 
coat  of  yours,  and  come  with  me  to  the  armoury, 
where  I  will  present  you  to  the  Captain  of  the  First 
Hauraki  Bines." 

I  lost  no  time  in  doing  what  I  was  told,  and 
proceeded  to  the  armoury,  where,  having  passed 
muster,  I  was  accommodated  with  a  rifle  and  a 
uniform,  and  ordered  to  return  to  the  same  place 
at  daybreak. 

It  was  a  great  grief  to  me  that  I  had  no  time  to 
go  to  Curly's  grave,  I  should  have  liked  to  see  it 
once  more.  For  him,  I  had  never  sorrowed  that 
his  young  life  had  been  cut  off;  such  a  tempera- 
ment as  his  would  have  suffered  terribly  as  life 
brought  him,  as  it  must  have  done,  one  disillusion 
after  another :  but  for  myself  it  was  long  long 
before  I  could  think  of  him  without  a  bitter  pang 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  167 

of  grief  at  the  knowledge  that  never  again  should 
I  hear  his  joyous  voice  or  see  his  sunny  smile.  I 
may  state  here  that  I  wrote  to  his  brother  an 
account  of  his  death,  but  never  got  any  reply. 

At  daybreak  the  next  morning  I  presented  my- 
self at  the  armoury,  where  I  was  a  good  deal 
astonished  to  see  Jack  Ward  dressed  in  uniform, 
waiting  with  many  others  the  order  to  march.  He 
came  up  to  me,  and  in  rather  a  sheepish  way  said 
he  had  decided  to  give  up  the  nefarious  trade  he 
had  been  carrying  on,  as  it  was  unfitted  to  "  a 
gentleman." 

I  congratulated  him  on  his  good  resolutions, 
whereupon  he  asked  me  to  shake  hands  with  him, 
and  begged  me  not  to  mention  his  past  occupation 
to  any  one.  I  complied  with  both  requests. 
Whenever  we  met  afterwards  we  were  always 
perfectly  polite  to  each  other,  but  we  did  not  seek 
out  each  other's  society.  He  being  very  flush  of 
money — got,  as  I  and  the  reader  know,  in  that 
trade  which  he  found  "unbefitting  a  gentleman" — 
he  was  much  looked  up  to  and  admired  by  the  men, 
the  more  so  as  he  was  a  good-natured  fellow,  and 
generous  enough  with  his  money. 

So  I  left  Shortland,  that  town  which  I  had 
entered  with  such  bright  hopes  a  short  three 
months  before.  Those  hopes  were  buried  with 
Curly,  and  I  went  forth  to  my  new  life  feeling  only 
that  I  might  as  well  end  my  life  in  a  battlefield 
by  the  hand  of  a  savage,  as  die  by  inches,  of 
starvation  among  my  own  people. 


168  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

My  adventures  as  "  private  of  the  First  Hauraki 
Eifles  "  must  be  told  elsewhere  by  my  friend,  for  I 
observe  that  this  narrative  has  stretched  out  to  an 
unconscionable  length.  I  herewith  put  the  pen 
into  his  hand  with  profit  to  my  readers  and  plea- 
sure to  myself. 

II.— NEW  ZEALAND. 

My  life  has  not  been  one  that  the  most  egotistic 
of  men  would  be  very  proud  of.  I  entered  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  where  I  did  what  most  young 
fellows  do — nothing  of  note.  It  was  during  my 
collegiate  life,  however,  that  I  studied  hard,  be- 
came somewhat  proficient  in  Hindustanee,  Arabic, 
and  Hebrew;  was  a  fair  mathematician  ;  loved  the 
Arab  Antar  more  than  Homer,  and  devoured  all 
the  English  poets  from  Chaucer  upwards. 

My  great  wish  at  this  time  was  to  become  an 
artist,  painter,  or  sculptor,  for  either,  of  which  I 
had  a  great  taste  and  was  naturally  endowed.  I 
do  not  speak  through  vanity  or  in  self-laudation, 
but  truthfully  and  sadly  too,  the  reason  for  which 
regret  I  will  show  further  on. 

Not  being  able  to  follow  the  profession  I  wished, 
I  entered  the  Church,  and  was  ordained  July  12, 
1846,  and  appointed  as  curate  in  the  same  parish 
as  my  father.  Father  and  son  brother  curates,  in 
the  same  parish,  on  the  magnificent  stipend  of 
«£69  4s.  7jd.  per  annum  !  You  will  wonder,  perhaps, 
at  the  4s.  7£d.  So  did  I,  but  never  knew  the 
reason.  The  halfpenny  was  always  strictly  paid. 


HALN   KILLIGREW  DUNBAR. 
(After  a  Photograph.) 


tlAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  169 

The  great  Irish  famine  began  the  same  year 
owing  to  the  failure  of  the  potato  crops.  The 
scenes  I  witnessed  were  heartrending.  Thousands 
died  for  want  of  food,  of  actual  starvation.  Then 
came  malignant  fever,  whose  breath,  passing  across 
a  town  or  village,  withered  up  its  victims.  Those 
who  could,  fled ;  those  who  could  not  fly,  laid  down 
and  died. 

Christian  charity,  if  it  could  not  save,  could 
and  did  alleviate  the  torturing  miseries  of  the  poor 
stricken  wretches.  But  all  this  has  long  since 
become  matter  of  history,  nor  can  any  good  be 
obtained  by  recalling  it. 

My  life  passed  on  monotonously,  without  much 
to  mark  the  months  as  they  slipped  by.  One 
amusing  event  happened  in  a  neighbouring  church, 
which  I  may  as  well  relate.  The  church  at  Garri- 
son, a  small  town  on  the  south-east  of  Loch  Melvin, 
had  just  been  built,  and  the  Bishop  of  Clogher 
appointed  a  day  for  its  consecration.  My  rector, 
father  and  myself,  were  present,  among  other 
clergy.  When  the  service  was  about  to  com- 
mence, the  clerk  endeavpured  to  sing  the  opening 
psalm,  but  having  a  very  bad  cold,  could  not 
produce  a  note,  so  turning  to  the  bishop  he  said, 
"  My  lord,  I  cannot  get  out  a  note,  but  will  whistle 
it."  And  whistle  it  he  did,  to  the  unspeakable 
amusement  of  all  present,  not  excepting  the  bishop, 
whose  episcopal  gravity  was  -very  sadly  upset. 

In  justice  to  the  clerk — a  man  I  knew  very  well, 
for  he  worked  for  my  grandfather,  whose  residence 


170  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

was  just  outside  the  town — I  must  say  his  whist- 
ling excelled  very  much  the  usual  excruciating 
vocal  sounds  with  which  he  was  wont  to  favour 
the  congregation. 

One  more  anecdote  before  I  close  this  brief 
narrative  of  my  clerical  career.  There  had 
been  a  drought  of  some  weeks'  duration,  and 
the  prayer  for  rain  was  naturally  used.  One 
Sunday  the  clerk  came  into  the  vestry  after  ser- 
vice, and  looking  from  the  cloudless  blue  sky  to 
me,  said  in  a  tone  of  contemptuous  remonstrance  : 
"  Eh,  sorr,  whativer  be  the  good  of  going  on 
praying  for  rain,  for  sorra  a  drap  will  fall  till  the 
wind  do  change." 

I  remained  twenty  years  in  the  same  curacy,  a 
lotus-eating  but  not  wholly  unpleasant  life,  during 
which  I  had  time  to  study,  and  to  increase  my 
knowledge  of  painting  and  sculpture. 

My  rector  dying,  a  successor  was  of  course 
appointed,  who  brought  his  own  curates.  I  had 
often  thought  of  leaving  "  the  Church,"  and  not 
long  after,  having  lost  my  dear  father,  and  the 
home  being  broken  up,  I  left  Ireland  in  company 
with  one  of  my  sisters,  who  required  my  escort  to 
Australia.  We  embarked  on  board  the  Hurricane, 
an  iron  clipper  ship,  commanded  by  Captain  John- 
son (he  was  captain  in  the  Naval  Reserve),  a  good 
seaman,  and  a  kind,  considerate  commander.  His 
wife  was  with  him — she  told  me  she  always  accom- 
panied him ;  they  were  a  most  devoted  couple,  and 
seemed  thoroughly  to  deserve  all  the  happiness 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  171 

that  was  theirs.  Mrs.  Johnson  was  not  only  a 
beautiful  woman,  but  was  singularly  attractive  in 
manner,  and  had  withal  a  fund  of  common  sense 
as  rare  as  it  is  delightful  to  come  across. 

My  sister  and  myself  \vere  the  only  first-class 
passengers.  In  the  second  there  were  about 
thirty,  a  curious  lot  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
one  and  all  fixing  their  hopes  of  wealth  and 
prosperity  on  Australia,  with  a  faith  worthy  of  a 
better  cause. 

I  used  to  like  to  get  Mrs.  Johnson  to  relate 
some  of  her  adventures  in  previous  voyages,  or 
some  particularly  striking  incident.  I  remember 
one  in  which  the  tragic  and  comic  were  strangely 
mixed.  Among  the  numerous  passengers  on  their 
way  to  Australia  was  an  Irishman,  his  wife,  and 
child.  One  morning  the  mother,  being  busily 
engaged,  the  man  took  charge  of  his  baby,  carry- 
ing it  backwards  and  forwards  on  the  deck.  The 
little  one  crowed  and  jumped  with  delight,  and  in 
its  extreme  hilarity  sprang  overboard  out  of  its 
father's  arms  and  was  drowned.  Paddy  at  once 
rushed  to  the  companion  ladder,  shouting  down  to 
his  wife,  "  Och,  Biddy,  come  up  quick,  the  chile 
has  bounched  clane  over  the  fince  !  " 

We  had  our  usual  amount  of  storms  and  calms, 
neither  being  terrible  or  very  inconvenient,  and  I 
began  in  my  mind  to  accuse  many  travellers,  who 
tell  woeful  tales  of  fierce  tempests  and  weeks  of  a 
weary  calm,  of  at  least  exaggerating.  I  forgot 
that  we  had  not  yet  reached  our  journey's  end. 


i?2  BAUD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

The  first  land  we  sighted  was  Tristan  Ditcunha, 
and  next,  Curguelan's  Island.  The  captain  was 
anxious  to  land  on  the  former  in  order  to  renew 
his  various  stores,  but  the  weather  was  so  stormy, 
and  the  coast  so  rocky  and  dangerous,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  give  up  the  idea  altogether;  so  all  I  saw 
of  it  was  a  dark  mass  looming  in  the  distance, 
surrounded  by  wild  white  billows.  When  in  the 
equator,  I  often  stayed  on  deck  the  greater  part  of 
the  night  watching  the  brilliant  phosphoric  lights 
in  the  water.  Millions  of  these  tiny  insects,  more 
dazzling  in  their  little  spheres  than  the  mightiest 
of  men,  lit  up  the  waves  with  a  golden  luminous 
glory.  One  night  the  chief  officer  called  me  on 
deck  to  witness  a  most  extraordinary  sight.  It 
was  raining  as  it  only  can  rain  in  the  tropics, 
huge  drops  of  water  falling  into  the  calmest  of 
seas,  and  the  whole  sparkling  like — I  am  at  a 
loss  for  a  suitable  simile — not  like  diamonds,  but 
like  a  white,  clear,  brilliant  light,  covering  all  the 
ocean,  intensely  beautiful,  surpassingly  magnifi- 
cent in  its  glistening  purity. 

One  day  I  happened  to  say  to  Mr.  Farleigh,  as 
we  leant  over  the  grating  watching  the  bright 
waves  sparkling  in  the  sun,  "  I  can  quite  imagine 
how  a  sailor  loves  this  free  life.  You,  I  suppose, 
are  perfectly  happy  in  your  career,  and  only  desire 
to  be  a  captain?  " 

"  You  are  mistaken,"  he  answered  quietly,  but 
with  a  concentration  of  feeling  that  startled  me, 
"  I  hate  it." 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  173 

"Then  why — "  I  asked,  then  stopped;  it  was 
none  of  my  business  to  pry  into  the  life  of  another, 
and  although  the  first  officer  and  I  were  very  good 
friends,  he  had  never  mentioned  his  family  or  his 
private  affairs,  but  he  finished  the  sentence  for  me: 

"Why  did  I  enter  the  navy?  Because,  like 
many  a  boy,  I  thought  it  a  very  grand  thing  to  go 
to  sea ;  and  because  there  happened  to  be  a  berth 
for  me.  I  imagined  all  would  be  delightful;  above 
all,  looked  forward  to  the  freedom  of  a  sailor's 
life — Freedom,"  he  repeated,  with  a  short  laugh,  as 
he  knocked  the  ashes  out  of  his  pipe  and  rapidly 
refilled  it. 

"You  have  not  found  it  a  life  of  freedom?"  I 
ventured  to  ask,  for  I  was  interested  in  hearing 
his  opinion. 

He  laughed  again.  "  Well,  not  exactly.  Think 
a  moment.  What  freedom  can  there  be  when 
one  is  confined  to  the  narrow  limits  of  a  ship, 
where  rules  and  discipline  must  be  strictly  en- 
forced. One  is  actually  in  a  sort  of  prison,  with 
the  additional  comfort  of  not  knowing  what  may 
happen  from  one  hour  to  another.  No,  what 
with  the  storms,  disasters,  and  shipwrecks,  a 
sailor's  life  is  not  one  to  be  envied,  it  is  but  one 
constant  succession  of  hardship,  toil,  and  misery." 

"Could  you  not  leave  a  profession  so  little  to 
your  taste  ?  "  I  asked,  still  feeling  somewhat 
puzzled  at  this  unexpected  view  of  a  seafaring 
life  from  the  lips  of  a  seafaring  man,  who  had 
always,  as  far  as  I  could  judge,  been  content  with 


174  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

his  lot,  and  what  is  more,  skilful  and  proficient  as 
a  naval  man. 

"If  I  left,  what  could  I  do?  What  is  a  man 
who  has  spent  years  on  the  ocean  to  turn  his 
hand  to  on  land  ?  Not  one  of  all  the  branches  of 
knowledge  necessary  on  board  a  ship  would  help 
a  man  to  get  his  living  on  terra  fa-ma,  and  my 
fortune  is  not  large  enough  to  allow  me  to  do 
nothing.  Here  I  am,  here  I  must  remain.  I  don't 
say  I  find  no  pleasure  in  my  life,  or  no  interest 
in  my  work  ;  nevertheless,  it  is  the  last  profession 
in  the  world  that  I  should  choose  had  I  my  life  to 
go  over  again." 

"  Have  you  been  shipwrecked  often  ?  " 

"  So  often,  that  now  I  really  hardly  mind  it ;  it 
is  an  excitement  like  any  other,  and  breaks  the 
monotony  of  life;  but  there,  too,  it  is  always 
accompanied  by  so  much  sorrow,  so  much  misery, 
that  one  shrinks  from  thinking  of  it,  and  one  feels 
a  brute  to  wish  any  change  that  would  bring  such 
terror  on  the  poor  passengers.  Yet,  for  my  part, 
so  calm  and  uneventful  a  voyage  as  we  have  this 
time  is  wearisome  to  a  degree." 

Though  we  were  not  far  off  our  journey's  end, 
we  were  fated  not  to  accomplish  it  without  a  disaster 
bad  enough  to  satisfy  even  my  friend's  desire  for 
change.  We  remembered  our  conversation  after- 
wards and  referred  to  it. 

A  pretty  sharp  storm  came  on  the  day  after  our 
talk,  and  a  good  deal  of  damage  was  done ;  the 
Hurricane  plunged  and  bounded  immensely.  The 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  175 

two  ladies  retired  to  their  cabins,  but  the  captain 
and  I  endeavoured  to  eat  our  dinners  as  usual,  the 
stormy  wind  in  noways  affecting  our  appetites. 
The  difficulties  were,  however,  very  great.  When 
I  tried  to  raise  my  glass  of  ale  to  my  lips,  it  would 
pour  over  my  right  shoulder ;  another  effort,  and 
my  left  shoulder  would  receive  what  my  open 
mouth  was  waiting  for.  I  nearly  put  out  an  eye 
with  a  fork  when,  giving  up  the  attempt  to  get  a 
drink  as  hopeless,  I  tackled  the  chicken  on  my 
plate,  and  was  deciding  to  use  my  fingers,  when 
crash  came  in  the  skylight,  followed  bj7  an  immense 
deluge  of  water,  which  swept  me  from  my  seat,  and 
sent  me  floating  around  the  dining  saloon  before  I 
had  time  to  call  upon  the  proverbial  Jack  Robin- 
son, as  is  usual  in  all  such  cases. 

What  a  scrimmage  it  was  !  Though  not  a  little 
frightened — "tell  it  not  in  Gath  !  " — I  could  not 
help  laughing  at  the  sight  we  presented,  such 
drenched  specimens  of  humanity.  Captain  John- 
son recovered  himself  first,  and  got  on  his  feet, 
with  water  pouring  from  him.  Without  heeding 
me  he  dashed  up  on  deck,  where  I  heard  him 
shouting  out  orders  above  the  roar  of  the  tempest. 

The  storm  stormed  itself  out,  and  the  Hurricane 
once  more  wended  her  way  through  calm  seas. 
At  this  time,  a  huge  whale  nearly  ran  into  us, 
but  evidently  thought  better  of  it.  He  insisted, 
however,  on  politely  escorting  us  for  some  miles, 
and  so  closely  as  almost  to  touch  the  ship.  The 
old  sailors  were  very  much  frightened,  for  they 


176  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

knew  the  danger  but  too  well.  The  wreck  and 
loss  of  many  a  fine  vessel  can  be  traced  to  those 
monsters  of  the  deep.  We  (the  passengers)  were 
merely  greatly  astonished  at  his  bulk.  He 
appeared  to  be  larger  than  the  Hurricane,  and  she 
numbered  three  hundred  feet.  Maybe  our  amaze- 
ment at  his  great  bulk  and  his  close  proximity 
added  magnifying  power  to  our  eyes ;  still,  of  a 
surety  he  was,  as  a  Pat  said,  "  a  rale  monstrous 
baste  intirely." 

Many  flying-fish  appeared  to  have  a  keen  desire 
to  improve  our  acquaintance,  for  quantities  of  them 
flew  on  deck,  one  nearly  blinding  the  steersman  by 
darting  into  his  eyes,  attracted  by  the  binnacle 
light.  They  were  all  caught,  and  swam  in  the  sea 
and  flew  in  the  air  no  more,  for — they  are  very 
good  to  eat ! 

And  now  the  long-wished-for  land  was  near,  and 
a  busy  time  it  was  for  the  crew — scraping  the 
masts,  painting,  and  otherwise  refitting  the  vessel 
and  making  her  clean.  The  damage  done  by  the 
storm  was  repaired,  only  the  boats  lost  could  not 
be  replaced  until  we  got  into  port.  The  passengers 
were  much  occupied  preparing  for  shore,  and  the 
female  part,  needle  in  hand,  were  touching  up  their 
finery — I  suppose  to  astonish  the  natives  by  and  by. 

The  night  before  we  entered  "  The  Heads,"  the 
pilot  came  on  board  and  took  command  of  the 
ship.  I  was  amused  to  see  how  Captain  Johnson, 
giving  place  to  the  autocrat,  seemed  to  become 
almost  a  nonentity  in  his  own  ship. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  17? 

Next  morning  we  entered  Hobson's  Bay.  The 
sea  was  rough,  but  though  the  wind  was  brisk  it 
was  not  boisterous,  and  the  sky  was  blue  and  clear. 
Having  made  all  my  arrangements  I  went  on  deck, 
observing  everything  with  the  greatest  interest. 
On  the  starboard  could  be  seen  the  quarantine 
buildings,  imposing  by  virtue  of  their  size,  and 
Dromana ;  while  on  the  port  side,  the  fine  city  of 
Geelong  was  clearly  visible. 

What  happened  then  was  so  sudden,  so  un- 
expected, that  even  after  this  lapse  of  time  my 
heart  beats  faster  as  I  recall  those  scenes — we  were 
wrecked  in  sight  of  land  ! 

The  coast  about  here  abounds  with  dangerous 
reefs  that,  like  some  beast  of  prey,  lie  in  ambush 
to  catch  some  unwary  vessel  as  it  sails  proudly 
by  on  the  sparkling  waters.  So  was  the  good  ship 
Hurricane,  with  white  sails  set,  gaily  floating  on 
to  that  port  that  even  now  opened  before  her. 

A  sudden  crunching  sound,  a  quivering  that 
shook  the  vessel,  a  momentary  stop — that  was 
all,  but  the  Hurricane  had  received  her  death- 
blow. 

A  loud  cry,  "  She  has  struck,"  was  followed  by 
the  captain  and  his  officers,  who  came  on  deck, 
and  firmly  and  quietly  calmed  the  panic-stricken 
passengers. 

"  Is  there  any  danger  ?  "  I  asked  Mr.  Farleigh, 
in  a  low  voice. 

"  Yes,  she  is  lost,"  he  answered,  in  the  same 
tone. 

13 


i?8  &ARD  LiPs  IN  ftiE  COLONIES. 


"But  she  is  sailing  just  the  same,"  I  said,  in 
amazement  ;  for  beyond  going  a  little  more  slowly 
there  seemed  to  be  no  difference  in  her  pro- 
gress. 

"Come  and  help  at  the  pumps;  that  is  our 
only  chance  of  keeping  her  afloat  a  little  longer." 

I  went  with  him.  The  crew  were  already  work- 
ing as  strenuously  as  men  could  work.  I  took  a 
hand  at  them,  when  Mr.  Farleigh  touched  me  on 
the  arm  and  pointed  forwards.  The  bows  of  the 
Hurricane  touched  the  water  and  began  to  sink. 
The  men  looked  at  each  other  significantly,  but 
worked  bravely  on  ;  very  soon  it  was  useless,  we 
were  driven  aft  by  the  rising  water.  The  order  was 
given  to  prepare  the  boats;  only  two,  it  will  be 
remembered,  were  on  board,  the  rest  having  been 
washed  away  in  the  storm.  I  went  below  to 
acquaint  my  sister  of  what  had  happened,  and  to 
bring  her  quietly  on  deck,  for  no  time  was  to 
be  lost  if  we  would  save  ourselves.  Without 
waiting  to  secure  anything,  we  hurried  on  deck, 
where  an  indescribable  scene  met  our  eyes.  The 
passengers  were  all  crowded  together,  and  though 
in  great  excitement  and  fear,  behaved  very  well. 
Captain  Johnson  told  them  briefly  that,  being  so 
near  the  shore,  their  lives  were  not  in  danger.  He 
then  ordered  the  two  boats  to  be  lowered  and  the 
women  to  enter  them  ;  luckily  there  were  very 
few  on  board,  and  room  was  found  for  me  in  the 
second  boat. 

Both  boats,  heavily  freighted,  were  kept  in  the 


LlFE  IN  ?HE  COLONIES.  170 

lee  of  the  ship,  which  served  as  a  sort  of  break- 
water; and  from  them  we  watched  the  vessel 
settling  down  in  her  watery  grave.  Captain  John- 
son stood  with  folded  arms  and  white,  stern-set 
features,  while  his  wife  sobbed  bitterly.  Presently 
came  a  thundering  sound ;  the  deck  of  the  Hurri- 
cane had  blown  up,  and  she  sank  rapidly,  remain- 
ing on  even  keel,  her  masts  perpendicular,  her 
white  sails  spread,  and  about  twelve  feet  of  water 
over  her  bulwarks.  A  groan  broke  from  the  crew, 
which  the  captain  stopped  with  a  gesture,  as,  not 
allowing  himself  the  comfort  of  one  word  of  sorrow 
or  regret,  he  told  those  who  could  swim  to  leave 
the  overcrowded  boats  and  get  into  the  rigging  of 
the  wreck.  This  was  done,  and  they  remained 
there  until  taken  off  by  a  stearn  tug,  which  was 
despatched  from  Landridge  to  our  rescue.  So 
near  were  we  to  land  that  the  people  at  Geelong 
saw  what  had  happened,  and  assembled  in  crowds 
on  the  quays  and  wharves.  Some  of  the  authorities 
telegraphed  the  disaster  to  Melbourne. 

We  remained  a  long  time  floating  aft  of  the 
wreck,  being  prevented  from  drifting  away  by  a 
rope  attached  to  the  spanker-boom,  for  although 
only  two  or  three  miles  from  shore,  we  dare  not 
attempt  landing,  owing  to  the  reefs  that  abounded 
and  our  ignorance  of  the  coast,  let  alone  the  over- 
crowded state  of  the  two  boats.  To  add  to  our 
misery  we  were  surrounded  by  enormous  sharks, 
who,  scenting  misfortune,  came  in  shoals,  swimming 
about  with  their  huge  jaws  yapping  and  their  small 


180  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

eyes  fixed  on  us  until  our  blood  fairly  curdled  in  our 
veins.  Mr.  Farleigh  very  nearly  fell  a  victim  to 
one  of  these  voracious  brutes.  He  was  swimming 
to  one  of  the  boats,  when  a  great  lanky  shark 
darted  at  him,  his  snout  almost  touching  him  ;  but 
while  the  monster  turned  on  its  side  to  seize  him 
the  men  dragged  him  into  the  boat,  where  he 
viewed  his  would-be  devourer  with  anything  but 
affection.  The  sea  for  a  long  distance  around  us 
was  covered  with  thousands  of  candles  and  millions 
of  boxes  of  Cockle's  pills,  and  I  could  not  help 
wondering  how,  the  latter  especially,  would  agree 
with  the  fish.  Pounds  of  candles,  dozens  of  boxes 
of  pills  went  down  a  shark's  capacious  throat  each 
time  one  opened  its  jaws,  and  it  afforded  me  a 
somewhat  fiendish  glee  when  I  pictured  to  myself 
the  sad  astonishment  of  those  monsters  of  the  deep 
at  the  new,  and  most  likely  unpleasant,  sensations 
that  would  shortly  pervade  them. 

After  some  dreary  hours  of  anxious  waiting,  the 
tug  returned  and  took  us  on  board.  Captain 
Johnson,  who  had  mounted  the  rigging  of  his 
vessel,  was  with  difficulty  induced  to  forsake  her, 
and  came  on  board  at  last  in  gloomy  silence. 
His  wife  prevailed  on  him  to  go  down  into  the 
cabin  with  her,  and  we  all  felt  that  if  any  one 
could  comfort  him  it  was  the  woman  he  loved  and 
who  loved  him,  and  who  had  been  with  him  in 
more  than  one  time  of  peril  and  sorrow.  The 
tug  took  us  to  Geelong,  where  we  were  hospitably 
entertained  by  the  authorities.  After  which  we 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  181 

re-embarked  and  steamed  to  Landridge  Pier,  and 
from  thence  to  Melbourne. 

I  may  state  here  that  nothing  was  saved  from 
the  Hurricane,  the  accident  was  too  sudden,  and 
she  sank  too  rapidly  for  anything  to  be  secured. 
Personally,  with  the  exception  of  a  telescope, 
which  was  somehow  or  other  thrown  into  one  of 
the  boats  by  a  sailor,  I  lost  everything  I  pos- 
sessed. All  my  scientific  and  chemical  imple- 
ments, my  canvas  and  colours,  tools  for  sculp- 
ture, a  fine  collection  of  valuable  books,  jewels, 
family  plate,  &c.,  &c.,  things  too  numerous  to 
mention  ;  and,  greatest  loss  of  all,  my  manuscripts, 
certificates,  and  testimonials,  none  of  which  could 
be  replaced.  My  sister  fortunately  had  a  cheque 
on  the  Melbourne  bank  safe  on  her  person. 

Thus  I  landed  in  the  New  World,  half  clad  and 
penniless,  with  life  to  begin  over  again,  when  I 
thought  I  had  just  attained  ease  and  comfort. 

A  man  in  such  a  condition  is  not  always  wel- 
comed even  by  his  nearest  relations ;  on  the 
contrary,  "  near  of  kin,  less  of  kind"  has  been 
proved  too  often  to  need  comment.  The  rat  who 
leaves  the  sinking  vessel  is  a  true  type  of 
humanity.  A  poor  relation  is  such  a  very  un- 
pleasant thing ;  he  gives  the  rich  members  of  the 
family  an  uncomfortable  feeling  that  something 
ought  to  be  done  for  him,  as  blood  is  thicker 
than  water,  and  there  is  still  supposed  to  exist 
such  a  feeling  as  natural  ties  and  family  affection. 
The  wild  beast  respects  its  own  species,  but  man 


182  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

is  superior  to  the  wild  beast,  and  respects  no  one 
but  bimself.  Why  should  he  be  burdened  with 
that  worst  of  all  unpleasant  objects,  that  weari- 
some incubus — a  poor  relation  ? 

Seeing  my  sister  comfortably  settled  in  her  new 
home  (she  had  come  to  Australia  to  be  married), 
I  felt  myself  to  be  one  too  many,  and  sought  for 
employment  in  all  those  branches  in  which  I  was 
proficient.  But  without  testimonials,  and  minus  a 
single  implement  necessary  for  my  profession,  it 
was,  I  suppose,  little  wonder  that  I  was  received 
with  suspicion,  and  my  story  of  the  loss  of  every- 
thing in  the  Hurricane,  with  scarcely  veiled  sneers. 

In  a  very  short  time  I  saw  it  was  hopeless.  No 
one  seemed  to  care,  I  was  getting  past  middle 
age  and  useless ;  only  young  men  were  needed, 
and  those  who  could  work  not  with  their  heads,  but 
with  their  hands.  What  did  it  matter,  one  man 
more  or  less  who  breaks  down  in  the  struggle  for 
life  ?  After  all,  it  was  no  one's  concern  half  as 
much  as  my  own,  and  if  I  would  live,  I  must 
shake  myself  out  of  the  state  of  lethargy  into 
which  I  was  tempted  to  sink,  and  putting  aside  all 
idea  of  making  my  living  as  painter,  sculptor,  or 
professor,  endeavour  to  put  bread  into  my  mouth 
by  the  labour  of  my  hands. 

Feeling  it  was  wiser  to  leave  Melbourne,  as  I  had 
connections  there,  and  had  no  wish  to  distress 
them  with  my  presence,  or  let  them  know  to  what 
a  state  of  poverty  I  was  reduced,  I  managed  by  a 
chance  piece  of  work  (copying  it  was)  to  get 


HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES.  183 

together  the  price  of  a  passage  to  New  Zealand, 
and  landed  at  Wellington. 

There  I  found  things  somewhat  worse  than  in 
Melbourne.  Literally  no  work  to  be  had.  There 
was  a  great  rush  at  that  time  to  the  Thames  gold- 
fields,  where  large  nuggets  of  gold  were  reported 
to  have  been  found  ;  so,  finding  I  could  do  nothing 
here,  I  went  also  to  try  my  luck  at  gold-digging. 
One  morning  I  landed  at  Graham's  Town  and 
Shortland,  half  towns,  half  mining  camps,  the 
possessor  of  a  pair  of  blankets,  a  few  shillings,  and 
a  heart  somewhere  in  rny  boots. 

I  looked  around  for  a  few  days,  "  taking  stock," 
and  looking,  looking,  looking  for  work.  At  length, 
when  my  last  penny  had  gone,  I  succeeded  in 
finding  employment  in  a  mining  office  connected 
with  the  Thames  gold-fields,  at  a  high  salary. 
Barely  a  week  had  I  enjoyed  this  happy  state  of 
things,  and  had  hardly  come  to  feel  safe  for  the 
future,  when  crash  went  the  whole  goodly  edifice  ; 
the  gold-fields  were  declared  a  sham  and  a  swindle, 
the  mining  stockbrokers  broke,  hundreds  of  men 
thrown  out  of  work,  a  cart-load  of  scrips  for  six- 
pence, or,  if  you  hadn't  a  sixpence,  for  nothing. 

Well,  I  had  no  sixpence,  and,  what  was  worse, 
no  work,  for  work  means  bread,  and  starvation  is 
decidedly  unpleasant.  If  any  one  doubts  it,  let 
him  try  it.  For  my  part,  I  know  I  would  have 
sold  all  my  illustrious  long  line  of  ancestors  for 
one  good  square  dinner  if  I  could.  How  like 
I  felt !  for  whom  I  have  ever  since  had  a 


184  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

brotherly  feeling  instead  of  the  scornful  wonder 
with  which  I  used  to  regard  him  and  his  act  of 
selling  his  birthright  for  a  bowl  of  porridge.  But 
I  am  getting  rather  gloomy.  Let  me  alter  my 
tune  to  something  of  a  livelier  strain. 

I  will  relate  one  of  the  many  stories — true  ones 
all — that  were  afloat  in  Shortland  at  that  time, 
showing  how  men  outwitted  each  other,  and  would 
sell  their  souls  if  they  could  for  gold.  There  was 
a  man  who  dwelt  in  Shortland — now  there  is 
nothing  very  extraordinary  in  this,  as  very  many 
men  dwelt  there  also ;  but  this  man  was  what  is 
called  in  Shortland  phraseology  "  a  strange  cuss." 
He  was  once  a  clerk  to  a  broker,  and  when  he 
learnt  full  understanding  of  the  business,  calmly 
swindled  his  employer  and  set  up  for  himself  with 
the  stolen  money,  and  rapidly  became  a  wealthy 
man.  He  offered  a  clerkship  to  his  late  master, 
which  was  indignantly  refused  ;  the  poor  desperate 
man  in  a  fit  of  despair  blowing  his  brains  out  in 
the  office  in  the  presence  of  his  usurper,  who  pro- 
nounced the  following  brief  oration  over  the  body  : 
"  Well,  now  you've  gone  to  h — 1,  I'm  safe,  and 
all's  well."  He  paid  for  the  funeral  expenses — an 
act  of  generosity  he  was  never  tired  of  recounting 
with  a  naive  astonishment  in  his  own  goodness 
that  was  a  curious  thing  to  hear.  Months  passed 
on,  and  he  became  richer  and  richer ;  everything 
prospered,  every  mine  he  had  to  do  with  succeeded, 
and  every  mine  he  turned  from  failed,  It  was  like 
magic, 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  185 

One  day  a  poor  miner  who  had  "  started  out  "  a 
mining  "  claim,"  finding  it  did  not  succeed,  wanted 
to  dispose  of  it,  and  for  this  purpose  placed  it  in 
the  hands  of  our  afore-mentioned  friend  the  broker, 
stating  his  price — .£500.  A  few  days  later  this 
miner  rushed  into  Mr.  -  -  (I  cannot  think  of  the 
fellow's  name — no  great  loss,  certainly),  into 
Mister's  office,  crying  out  in  great  excitement, 
"  Och  !  Aare  an'  ages.  Has  your  Honour  sould 
my  mine?  " 

"  I  can't  say,"  answered  the  broker,  "  I  have 
sold  so  many  since  you  were  here.  Why  do  you 
ask?" 

"  Och,  an'  you  have.  I'm  ruined,  so  I  am, 
ochone.  Oh !  for  marcy  sake,  your  Honour,  will 
you  aise  me  heart,  and  tell  me  you  have  not  ?  " 

"  Shut  up  your  blarney,  and  clear  out  of  this  ! 
Come  to-morrow,  and  I'll  see  if  I  have  sold  it ; 
but  be  sure  of  one  thing,  it  hasn't  fetched  £500," 
said  Mr.  Broker. 

"Oh,  murther !  murther !  "  wailed  the  miner. 
"  See  here,  yer  Honour,  the  pure  gould  I've  struck 
in  fair  handfuls ;  and  now  yer  go  and  tell  me  you 
have  sold  me  mine." 

The  broker  carefully  examined  the  sample  of 
gold-dust,  which  was  besprinkled  with  a  few  little 
nuggets,  and  seeing  that  they  were  genuine,  hastily 
decided  to  do  a  good  thing  for  himself. 

"  Wait  a  moment,  my  friend,"  he  said  to  the 
miner;  "I  will  go  and  see  whether  your  claim  is, 
sold  or  not.  I  rather  fear  it  is." 


186  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

Going  into  his  inner  office,  he  returned  presently 
with  a  cheque  in  his  hand.  "  I  am  sorry  to  say  it 
is  sold,  and  here  is  your  money,  .£500,  less  my 
charges,  which  are  not  much." 

Language  could  not  paint  the  grotesque  despair 
and  strange  antics  of  the  poor  Patlander.  He 
signed  the  cheque,  dashed  from  the  broker's  office 
to  the  bank,  grinned  a  horrible  and  ghastly  smile 
as  he  pocketed  the  cash,  and — vanished. 

Now  comes  the  best  part  of  the  story.  Mr. 
Broker  brought  some  of  his  friends,  two  days  after, 
to  see  the  splendid  "  grab  "  he  had  made,  for  need- 
less to  state  that  on  seeing  the  nuggets  he  had 
bought  the  claim  himself.  When  they  reached  the 
spot  they  found  a  little  earth  removed,  but  of  gold 
ore  not  the  smallest  trace !  Thus  for  once  was 
the  sharper  outwitted  by  a  poor  dirty  Irishman  ; 
and,  what  he  felt  almost  more  than  the  loss  of  his 
money,  the  story  got  about,  and  he  became  the 
laughing-stock  of  every  one. 

To  return  to  myself.  In  company  with  hundreds  of 
others — I  used  the  numeral  "  hundreds  "  advisedly 
— I  prowled  the  streets  and  lanes,  the  camps  and 
mining  districts,  in  the  weary  and  ever  vain  search 
for  work.  A  chance  job  now  and  then  enabled  me 
to  buy  my  daily  rations,  which  consisted  at  that 
time  of  a  ship-biscuit  and  cold  water  in  the  fore- 
noon, ditto  in  the  evening,  when  I  was  rich  enough 
to  afford  it,  which  happened  by  no  means  every 
day. 

There  is  a  story  of  a  young  gentleman  in  some 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  187 

old  play,  whose  name  I  forget  now,  who,  ou  his 
servant's  lamenting  the  emptiness  of  his  larder, 
tells  him,  "  There  is  a  page  turned  down  there  in 
Epictetns  that  is  a  feast  for  an  emperor."  True, 
such  diet  is  not  likely  to  induce  nightmare — a 
decided  advantage,  and  about  the  only  one  it 
possesses.  Alas  !  I  have  proved  it  ad  nauseam. 

My  home  was  a  manikin  bush,  or  rather  grove, 
and,  although  it  was  winter,  the  weather  was  not 
unpleasant.  I  rolled  myself  up  in  the  one  blanket 
I  had  not  parted  with,  laid  down  at  the  foot  of  a 
tree  whose  roots  formed  a  sort  of  hollow,  and 
generally  slept  very  well,  unless  prevented  by  the 
pangs  of  hunger.  It  is  really  wonderful  how  little 
a  man  can  live  on — perhaps  exist  would  be  the 
better  phrase.  I  had  almost  forgotten  the  taste  of 
meat,  and  found  that  my  strength  did  not  diminish 
to  the  extent  I  had  thought  likely,  on  a  biscuit  a 
day  for  all  nourishment. 

An  election  came  on,  and  I  got  myself  enrolled 
as  a  special  policeman  to  help  to  keep  the  polling- 
booths  intact.  "  Ah,"  said  I  to  myself,  "this  day 
I  will  get  something  better  than  air  and  water  to 
sustain  me."  •  What  a  fool  I  was  !  All  day  long  I 
wrestled  with  a  mob  of  Irish  blackguards,  and  at 
night  crept  into  the  root  of  my  tree  without  having 
broken  my  fast ;  nor  was  I  paid  for  that  day's  work 
until  a  fortnight  had  passed. 

With  some  clay  I  modelled  a  church,  which  I 
offered  for  sale  from  door  to  door.  A  common 
miner,  flush  with  money,  gave  me  five  shillings 


188  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

for  it  because  it  reminded  him  of  his  village  church 
in  Cornwall.  After  long  and  serious  thought  I 
expended  most  of  the  five  shillings  in  getting  a 
stock  of  newspapers,  and  selling  them ;  but  the 
young  boys  beat  the  old  one,  and  I  found  I  had 
half  my  papers  on  my  hand  to  do  what  I  pleased 
with. 

But  enough  of  these  details.  The  very  recollec- 
tion of  this  time  makes  me  feel  sick  and  weak.  It 
was  a  terrible  state  of  things,  and  no  one  to  blame. 
Without  friends,  without  money,  without  the 
knowledge  of  a  trade  ;  in  a  country  overrun  with 
strong,  able-bodied  men  seeking  work — work  to 
which  they  had  been  born — how  was  I,  a  gentle- 
man, therefore  a  useless  article  in  the  market  of 
life,  to  get  food  enough  to  keep  the  life  in  me  ? 
Often- did  I  desire  to  die  ;  fierce  were  the  tempta- 
tions that  assailed  me  to  drop  into  the  sea,  and 
end  the  intolerable  burden  of  life. 

Well,  the  weary  days  went  on  ;  constant  starva- 
tion began  to  tell  upon  me  ;  my  clothes  hung  on 
my  wasted  body  like  sacks,  and  with  my  long, 
uncut  beard  and  hair  I  made  a  sorry  figure  indeed. 
One  morning,  as  I  was  mooning  about  listless, 
weary,  not  seeking  for  work,  not  caring  what 
might  happen,  hardly  even  thinking,  some  one 
touched  me  on  the  shoulder,  and  a  voice  that 
seemed  to  reach  my  ears  as  from  a  dream,  said : 
"  Dunbar,  old  fellow,  is  it  you  ?  are  you 
alive  ?  " 

Turning  my  head,  I  saw  the  sergeant  of  the 


BARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  199 

Hauraki  Eifles,  with  whom  I  had  had  a  slight 
acquaintance  on  first  coming  to  Shortland. 

11  Great  Heavens,  what  a  scarecrow  you  are  !  " 
he  cried,  with  more  frankness  than  politeness. 
"  Have  a  glass  of  ale  and  a  talk  ?  " 

We  went  to  a  small  inn,  where  I  was  accommo- 
dated with  some  bread-and-cheese  and  beer,  the 
sergeant  sitting  gravely  smoking  and  watching  me 
until,  the  keen  edge  of  my  appetite  blunted,  I  could 
listen  to  him. 

"Will  you  volunteer  to  go  to  the  front?"  he 
asked.  "  Te  Kooti  is  out  again  with  his  How- 
Hows,  and  a  hundred  men  must  leave  at  daybreak 
to-morrow." 

"  Go  !  I  believe  you  !  "  I  answered. 

"  All  right ;  then  when  you  have  finished  your 
grub,  run  as  fast  as  you  can  to  the  captain  of  the 
corps ;  say  McEugall  sent  you.  You  will  find 
him  at  the  armoury ;  he  will  be  sure  to  take  you. 
Be  lively." 

And  lively  I  was — that  is,  as  lively  as  I  could 
be  under  the  circumstances,  saw  Captain  Kurtoii 
of  the  1st  Hauraki  Eifle  Volunteers,  was  accepted, 
sent  out  immediately  on  parade  ;  that  over,  was 
ordered  to  be  at  the  armoury  by  daybreak  the 
next  day  to  embark  for  the  seat  of  war.  So  I 
slept  for  the  last  time  in  the  root  of  rny  tree,  and 
before  daybreak  shouldered  my  "  swag,"  went  to 
the  armoury,  and  was  reviewed  with  the  other 
volunteers. 

Oh,  holy  and  blessed-looking  mob !     Had  I  my 


190  BARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

Shakespeare  at  hand,  how  appropriately  could  I 
bring  in  certain  quotations,  to  iny  great  honour 
and  glory,  about  Falstaff's  immortal  ragamuffins, 
and  make  sundry  comparisons  which  Mrs.  Mala- 
prop  would  stigmatize  as  "  odorous  "  !  Certain  it 
is  that  Falstaff's  corp  of  gallow- birds  was  as  the 
Coldstream  Guards  compared  to  us. 

Let  me  try  to  give  you  a  faint  idea  of  what  we 
looked  like.  A  few,  a  very  few,  had  dingy 
uniforms ;  these  were  the  Haurakis  proper,  if  I 
may  use  such  a  term ;  but  the  new  volunteers, 
how  shall  I  describe  their  rig  out  ?  One  man 
had  curtailed  the  tail  of  his  coat,  leaving  the  raw 
edge,  with  a  sublime  indifference  to  appearances. 
I  wore  mine  in  fringes,  with  elbows  out,  for 
ventilation  sake,  minus  a  collar,  and  with  but 
one  cuff. 

Now  for  the  other  volunteers.  Some  had  coats, 
some  paletots,  some  jackets ;  all  were  fragmentary, 
and  not  a  little  picturesque,  waving  in  every 
breeze,  and  giving  a  weird  and  flibberty-gibbet 
appearance  to  the  whole  crew  almost  impossible 
to  depict.  As  to  the  nether  garment,  I  really 
dare  not  venture  to  describe  what  is  indescribable ; 
I  will  only  say  that  some  carne  to  the  knee,  some 
lay  in  folds  over  the  boots,  trying  with  a  sort  of 
charity  to  cover  a  multitude  of  faults  and  defi- 
ciencies ;  some,  whose  proud  possessors  could  work 
a  needle,  were  patched  all  over  with  pieces  of 
cloth  found  in  the  dust-heaps,  and  were  as  many 
coloured  as  Joseph's  coat.  Hardly  a  vestige  of 


Alii)  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  191 

a  vest  among  the  lot,  but  instead  Crimean  shirts 
in  every  stage  of  decadence.  But  the  crowning 
glory  was  the  headgear  !  Oh,  Paddy !  thou  who 
erst  dwelt  in  that  "  Garden  of  God,  the  wild 
Connemara,"  mightest  have  been  able  to  produce 
a  specimen  worthy  to  vie  with  the  coverings  that 
hid  the  heads  of  the  Volunteer  Corps  of  the 
1st  Hauraki  Rifles.  The  collection  taken  just 
as  we  stood  would  have  rendered  a  museum 
immortal.  There  was  the  stately  chimney-pot, 
mangy,  battered,  and  brimless ;  the  mushroom- 
shaped  wide-awake,  as  green  as  a  stagnant  pool 
in  summer ;  the  Turkish  sanguinary  fez,  minus 
the  tassel,  and  faded  as  to  colour;  the  dapper 
cheese-cutter  on  the  cranium  of  a  gaunt  man  of 
some  sixty  years ; — such  were  a  few  of  the  head 
adornments  of  some  of  our  sans  culotte  corps. 

At  the  blast  of  the  bugle  we  shouldered  our 
"  impedimenta,"  and  fell  into  rank  and  file,  and 
proceeded  by  the  really  good  band  of  our  Haurakis, 
we  marched  through  Shortland  to  the  pier  at 
Graham's  Town. 

Our  queer  and  ragged  appearance  did  not  excite 
any  comments  in  either  town  as  we  passed  through. 
The  floating  populations  of  these  mining  districts 
are  accustomed  to  sights  stranger  and  even  more 
grotesque  than  the  hundred  tattered  and  torn 
recruits  of  the  Volunteer  Corps  of  the  1st  Hauraki 
Rifles.  The  Government  troopship,  the  Stuart, 
was  waiting  by  the  pier,  in  readiness  to  start  as 
soon  as  we  went  on  board.  In  less  than  an  hour 


192  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

we  saw  Graham's  Town  receding  from  our  sight, 
and  I  think  none  of  us  felt  anything  but  unfeigned 
thankfulness  at  the  chance  that  enabled  us  to  turn 
our  backs  on  a  place  where  we  had  one  and  all 
suffered  such  misery.  Once  shaken  a  little  into 
our  places,  we  began  to  take  stock  of  each  other, 

and  here   I  met    Gilbert   J ,   like   myself,  as 

miserable  a  looking  object  as  starvation  and  rags 
could  make  him,  but  nevertheless  unmistakably  a 
gentleman.  Good  birth  will  assert  itself  under 
the  most  adverse  circumstances.  We  fraternized 
at  once,  and  have  been  fast  friends  ever  since. 
Sorrows  and  privations  we  have  often  suffered 
together,  but  misfortune  has  but  drawn  us  closer 
and  riveted  our  friendship  more  securely. 

To  return  to  my  narrative.  After  an  uneventful 
voyage,  if  so  short  a  distance  can  be  termed  a 
voyage,  we  landed  at  Auckland  (of  which  town 
more  hereafter),  and  for  the  first  time  for  many 
days  had  a  good  dinner — an  important  fact  that 
has  remained  in  my  memory  with  a  faithful  per- 
tinacity of  which  I  ought  to  feel  ashamed ;  the 
very  menu  springs  before  rny  eyes  with  an  un- 
forgetable  clearness.  Oh,  Brillat-Savarin !  with 
what  scornful  wonder  wouldst  thou  have  viewed 
the  mountains  of  fat  boiled  mutton,  the  cart- 
loads of  boiled  turnips  and  carrots  that  burst 
upon  the  delighted  vision  of  a  hundred  hungry 
men !  We  needed  no  Sauce  a  la  Bechamel,  being 
all  provided  with  that  best  of  all  sauces — hunger. 
And  we  ate  gravely  and  silently,  like  men  fully 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  198 

impressed  with  the  importance  of  that  unusual 
event,  a  decent,  sufficient,  sit-down,  knife-and-fork 
dinner ! 

After  being  supplied  with  this  interior  ammuni- 
tion, we  were  given  arms  and  clothes.  Here  is 
our  costume.  No  coat  or  vest,  instead  thereof 
a  woollen  shirt  of  bright  colours ;  no  trousers, 
but  a  large  plaid  shawl,  fastened  by  a  strap  around 
the  waist  and  coming  to  the  knees,  like  a  High- 
land kilt ;  socks  and  shoes ;  a  small  dark  blue  cap, 
around  which  was  wound  a  white  puggery,  with 
the  gold  and  crimson  fringed  ends  hanging  grace- 
fully behind — altogether  a  wild  and  picturesque 
costume,  a  decided  improvement  on  our  civilian 
habiliments,  and,  like  Norah  Crima's  robe,  "  leav- 
ing every  beauty  free."  I  confess  the  effect  was 
rather  startling  when  first  we  broke  upon  one 
another's  gaze,  and  my  friend  greeted  me  with 
a  shout  of  laughter,  while  he  pointed  to  the  yards 
of  bare  bone  that  emerged  from  my  kilt,  and 
which  he  vowed  gave  me  the  appearance  of  a 
Highlander  on  stilts.  He  being  a  short  man, 
with  hands  and  feet  of  womanish  smallness,  had 
an  advantage  over  me  as  far  as  looks  went,  for 
my  six-foot-one  of  ordinary  height  was  seemingly 
increased  by  my  appalling  thinness,  while,  like 
Lady  Godiva's  lord,  I  wore 

"  My  beard  a  foot  before  me,  and  my  hair  a  yard  behind." 
Our  arms  were  the  Enfield  rifle   and  bayonet, 

14 


194  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

far  too  long  for  bush  fighting,  and  which  placed 
us  at  a  great  disadvantage  with  the  enemy,  who 
was  well  supplied  with  "  repeating  arms."  How  did 
they  procure  them  ?  That  is  a  question  we  could 
never  satisfactorily  answer.  The  craftiness  and 
cleverness  of  the  savages  were  truly  Machiavelian. 
Thus  equipped,  the  transformed  corps  of  the 
1st  Hauraki  Rifle  Volunteers  (I  always  like  to 
put  it  down  in  full,  it  is  such  a  delicious 
mouthful)  embarked  again  for  Tanronga,  our 
destined  field  of  operations.  There  we  in  due 
time  landed,  and  pitched  our  tents  behind  the 
town,  in  the  direction  of  the  Inden  Ford,  and 
near  an  entrenched  camp  of  friendly  Maoris.  Fine 
fellows  they  were  as  to  physique,  tall,  well  made, 
and  brown.  As  to  their  costume,  well — 

"  Except  a  shell — a  bangle  rare — 
A  feather  here — a  feather  there — 
The  South  Pacific  Maoris  wear 
Their  native  nothingness." 

We  were  supported  by  two  ships  of  war,  which 
were  anchored  in  front  of  Tanronga. 

Tanronga  is  situated  on  a  promontory,  sur- 
rounded with  beautiful  scenery,  and  the  land 
very  fertile.  It  was  once  a  very  thriving  city, 
but  war  and  its  many  attendant  blessings  (?)  had 
pretty  well  ruined  it.  At  the  seaward  end  of  the 
town  was  a  fortified  fort,  which  we  had  to  man. 
Two  Armstrong  field  guns  in  good  order,  with  the 
necessary  ammunition,  were  placed  here.  The 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  195 

bay  in  front  of  the  town  is  the  estuary  of  the 
Waimapu  River,  and  behind  the  town  at  about 
half  a  mile  is  another  bay,  which  can  be  forded 
at  low  water,  and  which  we  were  obliged  to  guard 
at  a  spot  called  "the  Inden  Ford,"  and  at  the 
other  side  of  this  bay  the  enemy  lay  in  ambush. 

We  were  kept  pretty  busy ;  what  with  sentries, 
videttes,  pickets,  scouts,  drill,  heat,  and  mosquitoes 
our  time  was  fully  occupied.  At  sunset  all  lights 
out ;  at  2  A.M.  parade  in  strict  silence,  waiting,  like 
spectres,  for  a  foe  who  was  too  wise  to  come.  For 
two  tedious  hours  there  we  stood  motionless,  with 
blue  or  grey  blankets  wrapped  around  us,  no  pipes 
allowed,  no  word  above  a  whisper,  for  fear  of  betray- 
ing our  presence,  and  drawing  upon  us  the  fire  of 
an  invisible  foe. 

The  Maoris  always  make  their  attacks  at  the 
weird  and  uncanny  hours  before  daybreak.  During 
the  day  we  were  tolerably  secure,  but  darkness  is 
the  time  for  savage  beasts — and  no  less  savage 
man — to  enjoy  themselves ;  so  we  were  kept  always 
on  the  qui  vive.  The  inhabitants  of  the  neighbour- 
hood all  around  Tanronga  flocked  into  the  town 
every  evening  for  greater  security,  returning  to 
their  homes  and  occupations  at  daybreak. 

Hard  by,  in  the  centre  of  the  Inden  Ford,  was 
an  island  "  taboo  "  by  the  natives  (i.e.,  forbidden 
to,  or  not  to  be  violated  by,  white  men).  On  this 
island  were  dozens  of  peach-trees,  which,  at  the 
time  we  were  there,  were  loaded  with  large  and 
delicious  fruit.  Some  of  us  would  steal  out  at 


196  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

night  with  empty  sacks,  wend  our  way  with  infinite 
caution  to  the  sacred  island,  cram  our  bags  full 
with  the  forbidden  fruit,  and  steal  back  again  to 
our  camp,  where  captain  and  men  feasted  upon 
them,  and  felt  none  the  worse  for  the  sacrilege.  It 
was,  however,  a  very  dangerous  undertaking,  as 
the  enemy  was  ubiquitous,  although  seldom  seen. 

On  Sundays  we  had  church  parade.  Standing 
in  a  hollow  square,  our  captain  would  read  the 
Church  of  England  service — somewhat  shortened,  it 
is  true.  In  the  evening  some  of  us  were  allowed 
to  attend  the  missionary  station  at  Tanronga, 

where  Archdeacon (I  will  not  give  his  name) 

held  the  service  and  preached.  He  had  been  asked 
to  give  us  a  service  in  our  camp,  and  had  refused 
emphatically  unless  paid  so  much  per  capitem. 
An  old  Maori  chief  thus  spoke  on  English  mission- 
aries :  "  The  Paheha  (white  missionary)  came  unto 
us ;  we  welcomed  him,  we  gave  him  land  and  pigs, 
we  built  a  house  for  his  God,  and  lo !  he  took  all 
and  nothing  gave  us  in  return,  though  many  moons 
have  passed  by ;  so  now,  if  God  wants  more  land, 
or  pigs,  or  houses,  God  must  pay  for  them." 
Their  eyes  are  opened  now,  and  they  can  dis- 
tinguish piety  from  covetousness. 

Many  missionaries,  be  it  spoken  to  their  shame, 
under  the  pretence  of  religion  have  "  land-grabbed  " 
to  no  small  extent,  but,  as  the  Yankee  says,  "It 
can't  be  did  no  more."  Mr.  Maori  now  knows  the 
value  of  land,  and  holds  his  rights  very  tenaciously, 
all  the  cajoleries  of  the  white  man — the  "  Paheha  " 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  19f 

particularly — leaving  the  noble  savage  unmoved  and 
immovable.  Their  cleverness  and  keenness  is  such 
as  often  to  surpass  the  white  man  in  the  rapidity 
with  which  they  make  their  fortune.  Take  the  chief 
Tapari,  for  instance.  He  lived  at  the  Thames,  and 
was  owner  of  the  whole  town  of  Shortland ;  his 
rents  brought  him  in  somewhere  about  £8,000  per 
annum.  Formerly,  like  Diogenes,  his  dwelling  was 
a  cask,  and  he  lived  on  the  smell  of  the  liquor  it  had 
once  contained.  "  See  what  a  rent  the  envious 
Casca  made  !  "  Pardon  this  quotation  :  I  could  not 
resist  the  temptation,  although  I  have  always  held 
that  a  man  who  could  perpetrate  a  pun  ought  to 
be  strangled.  While  speaking  of  Shortland  I  may 
as  well  relate  an  anecdote  proving  the  value  of 
knowing  the  language  of  the  natives  in  your  inter- 
course with  them.  I  was  one  day  standing  in  the 
gallery  of  Smaile's  Building  talking  to  his  janitor, 
when  two  Maoris  came  up  and  asked  him  in 
English  what  the  hour  of  the  day  was. 

"Good,  good,"  replied  the  janitor.  "Clock 
strikee,  strikee,  one,-  two,"  at  the  same  time 
frantically  twisting  his  right  hand  in  a  circle  above 
his  head ;  then,  turning  to  me,  he  remarked  with 
becoming  modesty,  "When  first  I  came  to  Short- 
land  I  could  not  speak  one  word  of  Maori,  and  now 
you  see  I  get  on  swimmingly." 

I  certainly  did  not  see  it,  and  as  to  the  poor 
natives,  they  stared  at  him  a  moment  bewildered, 
then  slunk  away,  doubtless  saying  to  themselves, 
"The  white  man  is  either  mad  or  a  fool." 


198  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

The  Maori  language  is  soft  and  sweetly  har- 
monious, something  in  sound  like  Italian,  but  more 
liquid,  having  many  vowels.  It  is  very  figurative, 
and  abounds  in  picturesque  allegories  and  beautiful 
similes. 

As  I  have  said  before,  the  Maori  is,  generally 
speaking,  a  noble-looking  man,  straight  and  well 
built,  tall  and  strong,  lithe  and  graceful,  and  walks 
like  a  king.  Among  their  tribes  they  dress  in  their 
"  native  nothingness,"  but  in  civilized  places  they 
give  in  to  the  white  man's  weakness  for  clothing, 
and  wear  loose  trousers,  woollen  shirt,  and  a 
coloured  blanket  worn  like  a  Roman  toga.  They 
don't  seem  to  care  about  headgear,  but  are  very 
proud  of  a  new  hat,  the  only  awkwardness  being 
that  with  one  on  the  head  the  Maori  considers 
himself  full  dressed,  and  any  other  article  of  cloth- 
ing superfluous. 

To  describe  the  gentler  sex  is  more  difficult. 
They  are  tall  and  well  made,  but  walk  as  if  carry- 
ing a  burden.  I  will  venture  to  depict  a  "  belle  " 
as  she  walks,  or  rather  sails,  down  the  one  street 
in  Shortland,  a  dazzling  meteor  of  all  violent 
colours,  the  bonnet  a  "  love,"  the  parasol  a 
"  delight,"  and  sucking  away  at  a  short  black  pipe  ! 
She  meets  a  friend,  they  both  squat  down  on  their 
heels  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  rub  noses  and  have 
a  "  corero  "  (talk).  The  Maori  women  make  most 
excellent  wives,  are  faithful,  good,  and  very  clean. 
Some  half-castes  we  saw  in  Auckland  were  very 
handsome  women,  splendidly  made,  of  so  rare  a 


MAORI   BELLE. 

(After  a  Photograph.) 


LIFE  Itf  THE  COLONIES.  190 

beauty  that  it  was  a  real  pleasure  only  to  look  at 
them. 

But  to  return  to  our  camp  at  Tanronga.  We 
remained  here  some  time,  but  the  enemy  never 
showed.  The  days  were  passed  in  hard  drilling, 
and  we  were  really  a  very  proficient  corps  when 
the  order  came  to  move  forward  to  the  Gate  Pa. 

This  place  was  celebrated  in  the  earlier  part  of 
the  war  by  the  crafty  and  clever  escape  of  the 
enemy.  Gate  PA,  was  built  in  the  narrowest  part, 
on  the  neck  of  the  peninsula,  and  consisted  chiefly 
of  underground  works,  built  with  no  inconsiderable 
skill.  The  English  troops  stormed  the  place, 
hurled  upon  it  shot  and  shell,  and  finally  took  it. 
But  on  entering  Pa  no  one  was  to  be  seen;  the 
place  was  literally  deserted,  not  a  Maori  remained. 
The  whole  tribe  had  vanished,  no  one  knew  how 
or  where,  yet  sentries  were  posted  all  around,  and 
declared  that  not  a  single  native  had  passed  or  been 
seen.  The  whole  thing  was  a  mystery  that  was 
never  solved. 

When  we  got  there  we  found  some  of  the  shells 
which  our  men-of-war  had  thrown  into  Pa,  un- 
exploded. 

The  same  evening  we  arrived  a  sad  accident 
happened  owing  to  the  foolish  carelessness  of  some 
of  the  men.  The  captain  had  told  us  all  to  go  to 
the  one  small  inn  the  place  possessed  to  have  a 
drink  after  our  long  and  hot  march.  Some  of  the 
men  found  an  unexploded  shell  as  we  were  return- 
ing from  the  inn,  and  began  to  amuse  themselves 


200  HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

by  extracting  the  powder,  placing  little  heaps  of  it 
on  the  ground  and  igniting  them.  A  fine,  handsome 
young  soldier  called  Burrows  went  up  to  them, 
warned  them  that  it  was  dangerous  play,  and  then 
having  lit  his  pipe,  threw  the  lighted  match  by 
accident  into  the  half-emptied  shell.  There  was  a 
frightful  explosion,  and 'when  the  row  and  smoke 
died  away  three  men  lay  on  the  ground.  One  was 
my  friend,  and  I  rushed  to  him,  finding,  to  my  great 
joy,  that  he  was  absolutely  unhurt,  a  part  of  the 
shell  having  simply  knocked  him  over  as  it  passed 
by.  The  second  man  was  a  good  deal  injured  about 
the  shoulders  and  stomach,  and  poor  Burrows  was 
dead.  Half  his  head  was  blown  off,  and  pieces 
from  various  parts  of  his  body  torn  out.  It  was  a 
sickening  and  horrible  sight,  those  bloody  and  muti- 
lated remains  of  what  a  minute  before  had  been  a 
strong,  stalwart  man.  We  laid  him  in  a  blanket, 
and  the  wounded  man  in  another,  and  wended  our 
way  sadly  back  to  the  camp.  The  next  day  we  were 
all  marched  in  Tanronga,  where  we  buried  our  com- 
rade in  the  cemetery  there,  with  military  honours. 
Then  we  returned  to  our  tents  at  Gate  Pa. 

Pa  is  a  very  tiny  place,  the  only  buildings  being 
a  miniature  fort  fairly  well  constructed  and  supplied 
with  ammunition,  and  the  afore-mentioned  inn, 
where,  however,  you  could  get  nothing  to  eat,  and 
only  beer  to  drink.  Some  of  the  men,  particularly 
the  Irishmen,  thought  this  a  great  hardship,  and 
pined  for  their  dear  whiskey. 

Many  expeditions  were  sent  in  boats  up  the 


HARD  LIFE  Itf  THE  COLONIES.  201 

Waimapu  lliver,  with  stores  to  be  conveyed  to  the 
front.  This  was  always  done  by  night,  and  was 
attended  with  much  danger  and  discomfort.  Our 
work  was  to  convey  the  stores  to  a  certain  point  half 
way  to  the  front,  where  the  principal  fighting  was 
going  on.  So  as  night  came  on  eight  privates, 
with  a  sergeant  and  lieutenant  would  take  our 
places  in  a  boat,  in  the  bows  of  which  was  a 
mounted  gun,  loaded.  Four  men  at  a  time  took 
the  oars,  which  were  always  muifled,  as  we  could 
not  be  too  cautious  with  such  a  crafty  enemy  as 
the  Maoris  near  us.  We  were  all  supposed  to  be 
sailors  that  were  picked  out  for  this  work,  but  I 
knew  of  one  who  most  certainly  was  not,  and  didn't 
know  one  part  of  a  vessel  from  another.  It 
generally  took  us  all  night  to  get  up  the  river,  and 
glad  enough  we  were  to  see  the  lights  from  the 
small  fort,  and  to  know  help  was  near,  for  had  we 
been  attacked  whilst  on  the  water  we  ran  the  pretty 
certain  risk  of  all  being  killed  before  any  assistance 
could  reach  us. 

At  the  fort  was  stationed  a  small  body  of  troops 
well  armed,  to  protect  the  stores.  We  usually 
remained  at  the  fort  for  a  day's  rest,  returning  in 
the  night  to  the  camp,  and  starting  again  the 
following  evening  with  more  stores,  and  so  on 
until  all  sent  on  from  Auckland  was  safely  packed 
away  in  the  fort. 

One  morning  a  special  parade  was  called,  after 
which  the  captain  informed  us  that  a  company  of 
constabulary  with  surveyors  and  engineers  were 


202  HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

away  in  front  of  us  surveying  roads  ;  they  had 
with  them  a  troop  of  soldiers  to  guard  them ; 
unfortunately  they  were  running  short  of  stores, 
and  it  was  necessary  that  relief  should  be  taken 
to  them  as  soon  as  possible.  "I  will  order  no 
man  to  go,"  he  said,  "  for  it  is  a  most  dangerous 
undertaking  to  march  forty  miles  through  the 
enemy's  country.  I  will  therefore  take  only 
volunteers  to  the  number  of  fifty."  He  might 
have  had  twice  that  number  had  he  chosen,  for 
we  all  seemed  fired  by  the  chance  of  excitement. 
Fifty  were  quickly  chosen,  including  five  corporals, 
two  sergeants,  and  a  lieutenant.  My  friend  and 
myself  went  as  privates. 

Our  first  work  was  to  reach  the  afore-mentioned 
fort,  where  we  procured  the  necessary  supplies, 
which  were  packed  on  horses,  of  which  there 
were  twenty-five.  We  left  the  fort  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  hoped  to  reach 
a  very  high  point  of  land  some  twenty  miles 
distant  before  darkness  set  in. 

The  guide,  a  Scotchman,  who  had  been  here 
before,  went  first  with  the  lieutenant ;  then  came 
an  advance-guard,  followed  by  the  pack-horses, 
and  finally  a  rear-guard.  Gilbert  and  I  were 
in  the  rear-guard,  by  no  means  the  pleasantest 
position  in  the  world,  as  we  were  liable  to  be 
cut  off  from  the  main  body  at  any  moment.  It 
was  so  dark  we  could  hardly  distinguish  one 
another.  Strict  silence  was  enjoined,  and  no 
smoking  allowed.  On  we  groped  our  way  in  the 


EABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  203 

gloom  and  silence,  when  suddenly  the  stillness 
was  broken  by  unearthly  and  discordant  sounds  of 
clattering  of  hoofs,  kicking,  and  loud  cursing.  A 
halt  was  called,  and  it  was  discovered  that  the 
disturbance  was  caused  by  a  young  colt,  who 
doubtless,  not  appreciating  the  slow,  silent  mode 
of  proceeding  forced  upon  him,  thought  he  would 
show  us  what  he  could  do,  just  by  way  of  diver- 
sion. His  first  act  was  to  kick  down  the  man 
who  was  leading  him,  and  then,  by  plunging  and 
starting,  get  rid  of  the  burden  on  his  back  with 
the  greatest  despatch  possible,  and,  before  he 
could  be  prevented,  bolted  away  from  us  with 
great  speed  and  in  the  wildest  spirits.  It  was 
useless  to  think  of  going  after  him,  so  we  were 
obliged  to  pack  his  burden  on  one  or  two  of  the 
other  already  overloaded  animals  ;  and,  seeing 
the  man  kicked  down  was  not  hurt,  only  furious 
with  rage  against  "that  d —  hoss,"  we  once  more 
proceeded  on  our  silent  way. 

After  two  hours  had  passed,  it  was  discovered 
that  we  were  off  our  track.  The  guide,  having 
fallen  asleep  whilst  walking,  had  taken  us  at  least 
three  miles  out  of  our  way.  The  darkness  was  so 
great  that  it  took  us  several  hours  to  find  the  track 
again,  the  ground  being  covered  with  short  bushes. 
Finally  it  was  discovered,  and  once  more  we  set 
off,  and  marched  on  until  we  came  to  a  river,  a 
branch  of  the  Waimapu  Eiver.  Here  we  had  to 
unpack  all  the  stores  into  a  boat,  and  swim  the 
horses  over,  which  was  accomplished  in  safety; 


204  HA BD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

then,  re-packing  our  stores,  we  partook  of  a  hasty 
meal  consisting  of  meat,  biscuit,  and  a  glass  of 
grog,  and,  without  resting,  resumed  our  march  in 
Indian  file  as  usual.  We  arrived  within  sight  of 
"  Hancock's  Point"  about  two  o'clock,  it  having 
taken  us  half  a  day  and  a  night  to  get  thus  far. 

The  Point  was  at  the  top  of  a  tremendously 
high  peak.  The  order  was  given  to  ascend.  As 
you  may  imagine,  it  was  no  light  work,  for  we  had 
on  our  full  accoutrements,  sixty  rounds  of  ammu- 
nition, two  days'  provisions,  our  blankets,  and  a 
heavy  Tower  rifle. 

We  began  the  ascent,  aud  made  our  way  but 
very  slowly,  owing  to  the  steepness  and  the  want 
of  a  beaten  track.  The  Point  loomed  up  straight 
before  us  like  some  huge  and  unattainable  giant, 
who  seemed  to  look  down  on  these  struggling 
human  flies  with  calm  and  cold  indifference.  On 
we  went,  stumbling  at  every  step,  clutching  at 
every  branch  or  twig,  steadying  ourselves  against 
every  tree,  for  full  well  we  knew  that  if  we  lost 
our  hold  it  was  all  up,  for  a  deep  precipice  yawned 
at  the  bottom ;  once  slip  into  it,  and  death  would 
be  instantaneous.  We  were  a  good  three-parts  of 
the  way  up,  when  suddenly  we  received  a  volley 
from  a  band  of  How-Hows,  native  rebels,  who 
were  lying  in  ambush,  and  had  doubtless  been 
quietly  waiting  until  we  were  within  range  of  their 
rifles.  Three  of  our  men  were  shot,  whether 
killed  we  could  not  tell,  for  they  rolled  over  and 
over,  one  I  saw  rebound  several  feet  into  the  air, 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  205 

then  they  disappeared  into  the  abyss  below.  The 
horses  got  wild  with  terror,  and  it  took  half  the 
men  to  attend  to  them  and  prevent  their  dashing 
down  the  mountain  side  with  all  the  stores  on 
their  backs.  The  remainder  of  us  extended 
ourselves  in  skirmishing  order,  and  advanced 
with  caution.  The  How-Hows  had  the  advantage 
of  us,  for  they  were  under  shelter,  while  we  were 
exposed  to  their  view,  and  they  could  pick  us  off 
at  their  good  pleasure,  while  we  could  only  fire 
more  or  less  at  random.  A  second  volley — two 
more  men  killed,  and  the  horses  becoming  more 
frantic.  Our  lieutenant,  who  had  never  been  in 
action  before,  lost  his  head  and  gave  the  insane 
order,  "Every  man  to  cover,"  and  forthwith  en- 
sconced himself  behind  a  large  stump  of  a  tree. 
The  trees  were  few  and  far  between,  and  the  low 
bushes  were  but  a  poor  shelter  from  the  foe.  We 
crouched  down  according  to  orders,  feeling  very 
much  as  if  our  death  warrant  had  been  passed 
upon  us,  for  lying  here  many  were  sure  to  be 
killed,  whereas,  if  we  had  continued  our  march, 
we  might  by  firing  have  kept  the  enemy  at  bay. 

For  some  ten  minutes,  that  seemed  like  ten 
days,  all  was  quiet ;  then  the  How-Hows  let  fly 
a  volley  in  our  very  midst.  Gilbert,  and  two 
other  men,  were  lying  to  my  right,  close  to  the 
rotten  stump  of  a  tree.  Jack  Ward,  one  of  the 
men,  a  former  mate  of  my  friend's,  remarked, 
"  This  is  hot,"  when  a  bullet  struck  him,  took  off 
the  top  of  his  skull,  scattering  his  brains  all  over 


206  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

Gilbert,  and  filling  his  pannikin  that  was  on  the 
top  of  his  kit.  "Dunbar,"  he  called  to  me,  "  for 
God's  sake,  wipe  this  off!  I  feel  sick!  " 

I  crept  over  to  him  on  all  fours,  removed  the 
body  of  poor  Ward,  and  forced  a  little  grog  down 
my  friend's  throat.  He  looked  ghastly,  and  I  was 
afraid  at  first  that  he  was  wounded.  That,  how- 
ever, was  not  the  case,  and  after  a  few  moments  he 
got  all  right  again.  Ward  was  not  the  only  man 
that  we  lost,  by  a  good  many,  owing  to  the  lieu- 
tenant's mad  order. 

Another  volley  from  the  enemy — more  killed, 
more  wounded,  and  the  horses  wild  with  terror. 
At  this  point  of  affairs,  the  coloured  sergeant, 
finding  the  lieutenant  had  completely  collapsed 
behind  his  tree,  sprang  to  his  feet,  shouting, 
"  Now  is  your  time,  boys !  On  to  them  before 
they  can  reload." 

We  all  darted  to  the  bushes,  firing  as  we  ran ; 
but  on  entering  the  scrub — no  one.  Again  the 
How-Hows  had  vanished,  leaving  no  trace  behind 
but  one  dead  man  we  tumbled  over.  I  sent  that 
one  spinning  into  the  precipice  to  get  rid  of  his 
ugly  phiz. 

Such  is  guerilla  fighting. 

Our  enemy  had  disappeared  as  though  he  had 
never  been,  and  although  we  searched  all  that 
part,  we  saw  nothing  whatever  of  any  one  of 
them. 

The  How-Hows  generally  fire  from  the  hip, 
making  sure  of  killing  something  or  somebody. 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  207 

In  tackling  an  encampment,  they  fire  first  on  the 
ground  to  get  at  the  sleepers,  next  volley  at  a 
quarter  of  a  minute's  interval,  a  little  higher,  for 
the  roused  men  sitting  up,  and  the  third  volley  for 
the  standing  men. 

Finding  all  was  safe  for  the  time,  our  lieu- 
tenant crawled  from  behind  his  stump,  and 
feebly  asked  if  any  one  was  hurt.  He  was  a 
cowardly  cur,  and  it  seemed  a  pity  the  How- 
Hows'  bullets  had  spared  him.  His  former 
profession  was  that  of  a  ship's  carpenter ;  but 
more  of  him  hereafter. 

Night  coming  on,  we  took  possession  of  the 
shrubbery  deserted  by  the  How-Hows,  fastened 
the  horses,  and  had  a  meal,  of  which  we  stood 
greatly  in  need.  All  but  the  sentries  then  rolled 
themselves  up  in  their  blankets,  and  were  soon 
fast  asleep. 

I  was  one  of  the  four  sentries  placed  on  guard, 
one  at  each  corner  of  the  hastily-constructed  hut. 
Our  orders  were  to  lie  on  our  stomachs,  with  full- 
cocked  rifle,  and  to  fire  on  anything  we  saw 
moving,  without  challenging.  It  was  pitch  dark, 
and  as  I  lay  flat  I  fancied  I  heard  a  movement 
behind  me,  as  if  some  one  was  crawling  on  the 
ground.  I  listened,  rifle  in  hand ;  all  was  still. 
After  a  few  moments  I  heard  it  again.  Thinking 
it  might  possibly  be  one  of  the  men,  I  challenged 
in  a  low  voice.  The  object  took  no  notice,  but 
kept  crawling  closer.  It  was  not  more  than  ten 
or  twelve  yards  from  me  now.  Again  I  challenged 


208  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

low,  fully  determined,  if  I  received  no  answer,  to 
fire,  when  I  heard  a  voice  faintly  whisper,  "  Don't 
be  a  fool;  it's  me  !  " 

"  Me  "  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the  sentries  who, 
feeling  frightened  and  lonely,  had  risked  being 
shot  in  order  to  hear  a  human  creature's  voice. 
I  should  have  been  fully  justified  in  shooting  him. 
Luckily  for  both  the  man  and  myself,  his  little 
nocturnal  visit  was  not  discovered,  or  both  he  and 
I  would  have  got  into  trouble.  In  another  two 
hours  we  were  relieved. 

At  daybreak  we  started  again  on  our  climb 
upwards  to  the  Point,  and  after  some  four  hours' 
struggling  through  the  scrub  we  began  to  near  our 
destination.  We  were  disagreeably  surprised,  as  we 
came  within  sight  of  the  encampment,  to  receive 
a  volley  of  bullets,  followed  by  a  second,  before  we 
perceived  that  our  lieutenant  had  neglected  to 
hang  out  the  flag  of  peace,  so  the  natives  who 
were  friendly  to  us  and  were  protecting  our  white 
men  at  the  Point,  mistook  us  for  How-Hows. 

That  little  matter  rectified,  we  reached  the 
camp  in  safety,  and  were  received  with  the  deep 
joy  which  starving  men  give  to  those  who  rescue 
them.  The  commander,  however,  was  horrified  at 
the  smallness  of  our  number,  and  severely  censured 
our  captain  for  sending  such  a  handful  of  men 
through  the  enemy's  country. 

After  a  few  hours'  rest  and  some  refreshment, 
we  set  out  on  our  return  journey.  The  pack- 
horses  being  left  behind,  we  got  on  much  faster, 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  209 

reaching  the  scene  of  our  late  conflict  in  the 
evening.  There  being  no  signs  of  any  How-Hows, 
we  camped  there  for  the  night,  some  of  the  men, 
chiefly  the  large  heavy  ones,  being  completely 
fagged  out.  The  night  passed  in  peace,  the 
enemy  doubtless  supposing  that  we  would  remain 
at  least  a  night  at  the  Point.  At  daybreak  we 
were  on  the  march  again,  taking  a  new  track, 
which  obliged  us  to  scale  some  very  steep  moun- 
tains— no  joke,  heavily  loaded  as  we  were,  and 
worn  out  by  the  last  two  days'  exertions.  Some 
of  the  men  lagged  miles  behind,  in  spite  of  our 
lieutenant's  vigorous  cursing  at  them  and  threats 
of  punishment. 

Being  still  somewhat  thin,  I  got  over  the  ground 
very  well,  while  my  friend  was  as  fresh  as  a  lark, 
and  actually  appeared  on  parade  the  morning  after 
our  arrival,  which  I  must  confess  I  did  not.  Some 
of  the  men  were  laid  up  for  weeks,  being  attacked 
with  a  sort  of  low  fever,  brought  on  by  exposure 
and  fatigue. 

After  this  expedition  to  the  Point  we  were  sent 
on  no  more  for  the  time,  but  continued  at  Gate  Pa, 
passing  the  days  in  the  usual  routine  of  military 
life. 

At  this  time  the  senior  captain,  Frazer,  died  at 
his  residence  at  Tanronga,  and  we  were  all  marched 
in  to  bury  him.  His  body  was  placed  on  a  gun- 
carriage  and  drawn  by  a  party  of  soldiers  to  the 
cemetery.  The  Archdeacon  read  the  burial  ser- 
vice of  the  Anglican  Church  over  the  remains 

15 


210  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

(being  well  paid  for  it,  no  doubt),  and  the  body 
being  consigned  to  the  earth,  we  fired  the  regula- 
tion volley  over  the  grave,  and  were  then  marched 
back  into  the  town  for  refreshment  previous  to  our 
return  to  Gate  Pa.  It  was  a  march  from  a  funeral 
to  an  orgie.  Most  got  elevated,  not  excluding  our 
officers.  As  is  usual  on  such  occasions,  the  scum 
rises  to  the  surface,  and  it  was  a  pitiable  spectacle 
to  see  our  superiors  (?)  stumbling  about,  finding  a 
.resting-place  in  a  dirty  gutter ;  and,  worse  still,  to 
-hear  the  language  that  might  have  put  to  the  blush 
•a  Billingsgate  fishman,  come  from  the  lips  of 
English  soldiers  and  officers. 

I  have  reason  to  remember  Captain  Frazer's 
funeral,  for  I  nearly  lost  my  friend,  who  narrowly 
escaped  being  killed  by  our  drunken  comrades. 
The  few  of  us  who  were  sober  made  the  attempt, 
when  the  hour  came,  to  collect  the  men  in  order 
to  march  back  to  Gate  Pa.  Unfortunately 
many  of  them  were  so  far  gone  that  they  only 
became  furious  at  our  interference,  and,  being 
armed,  some  fired  and  others  used  their  bayonets, 
until  a  free  fight  ensued,  during  which  our  efforts 
to  disarm  them  met  with  but  partial  success. 
Gilbert  was  in  the  act  of  tearing  a  rifle  from  the 
hands  of  a  private,  when  the  man  with  a  stroke  of 
his  bayonet  cut  clean  through  his  cap  into  his 
skull,  on  the  very  place  where,  some  time  before, 
he  had  received  a  similar  wound  during  a  riot  in 
Eden  Gardens,  Calcutta.  When  I  saw  him  fall  I 
ran  to  his  assistance,  kicking  aside  the  brute  who 


BA&l)  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  211 

Was  swaying  to  and  fro  over  him,  half-sobered  and 
whimpering,  "I  say,  mate,  get  up;  I  didn't  mean 
no  hurt." 

I  lifted  him  up,  and  with  another  man's  help 
carried  him  to  the  soldiers'  quarters.  Before  doing 
so,  however,  I  bound  up  his  head  as  well  as  I  could 
with  my  puggery.  It  was  an  ugly  gash,  and  the 
blood  kept  oozing  through  the  bandage.  The 
surgeon  sewed  it  up,  and  though  faint  from  loss  of 
blood,  and  the  pain  also,  which  was  severe,  the 
plucky  fellow  insisted  on  marching  back  to  camp 
with  the  rest  of  us  later  on  in  the  evening.  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  though,  that  ever  since  he  is  liable  to 
constant  attacks  of  illness  that  preclude  all  possi- 
bility of  his  ever  doing  much  head  work. 

Some  weeks  after  the  death  of  Captain  Frazer  we 
received  orders  to  move  some  miles  further  on  to 
the  front,  where  the  chief  fighting  was  going  on, 
and  where  we  had  been  told  our  work  would  be 
varied  by  constructing  roads.  So  behold  us  one 
morning,  having  been  supplied  with  all  requisite 
tools  for  road-making,  inarching  on  loaded  like 
pack-horses,  having,  in  addition  to  our  usual  im- 
2}edimenta,  bars,  axes,  shovels,  spades  and  picks. 

"  John  Brown's  body  lies  a-mouldering  in  the  grave, 
But  his  soul  goes  marching  on," 

was  chanted  more  vigorously  than  euphoniously, 
ably  accompanied  by  the  squeaking  and  rumbling 
of  the  wheelbarrows,  one  of  which  I  trundled  along 
filled  with  our  rifles.  I  must  say  that  we  were  at 


S12  BARb  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

this  time  a  most  creditable  body  of  soldiers,  had 
been  well  drilled,  and  were  in  excellent  condition. 
No  wonder  we  felt  quite  veterans,  and  shouted 
lustily — 

"  We'll  hang  Jef  Davis  on  a  sour  apple  tree,"  &c. 

On  we  went,  over  the  sandy  roads,  or,  more  strictly 
speaking,  tracks,  mere  sheep  tracks  most  of  them, 
now  in  a  compact  body,  now  in  Indian  file,  which 
last  style  of  marching  we  much  affected.  Turning 
to  the  left  we  crossed  a  plain,  on  the  other  side  of 
which  was  a  camp  of  the  militia,  composed  of 
settlers,  under  the  command  of  a  Captain  Tovey,  a 
one-eyed  veteran ;  but  I'll  say  this  for  him,  his  one 
small  grey  eye  made  up  in  sharpness  and  cunning 
for  any  two  eyes  of  an  ordinary  man.  We  only 
stopped  for  a  few  minutes  to  allay  our  thirst,  then 
on  again  to  the  edge  of  a  swamp  covered  with 
beautiful  rushes  and  shrubs.  The  Rapu,  similar 
to  our  English  bulrush,  the  Typha  latifolia,  and 
the  New  Zealand  flax  (Farmium  tenax).  I  deserted 
my  barrow  in  order  to  observe  these  shrubs  more 
closely.  We  crossed  the  swamp  in  an  easterly 
direction,  and  very  weary  work  it  was,  and  having 
traversed  it  found  ourselves  at  the  foot  of  a  steep 
bluff.  This  we  were  obliged  to  mount.  The 
summit  of  it  was  quite  level,  forming  what  the 
Californians  call  a  Mesa  Land.  On  the  other  side 
of  this  bluff  ran  the  Waimapu  River.  We  hastily 
pitched  our  tents  on  the  neck  of  the  Mesa,  as 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  213 

hastily  took  some  refreshment,  for  so  tired  and 
jaded  were  we  from  our  long  and  fatiguing  march 
that  we  only  longed  for  rest. 

All  could  not,  however,  seek  "  Balmy  slumber, 
sweet  repose,"  for  we  were  obliged  to  keep  our 
weather  eye  wide  open,  the  hostile  How-Hows 
being  known  to  have  a  partiality  for  this  place. 
So  sentries  were  posted,  silence  enjoined,  all  lights 
extinguished,  and  those  men  not  on  duty  rolled 
themselves  in  their  blankets  and  slept  as  only  tired 
men  can. 

The  next  day  the  camp  quickly  assumed  its 
usual  orderly  appearance,  and  we  began  to  make  a 
road  right  across  the  swamp,  in  order  to  facilitate 
the  bringing  up  of  heavy  guns,  military  stores,  &c. 
This  road-making  was  not  altogether  unpleasant 
work.  There  were  some  disagreeablenesses,  such 
as  wading  into  the  swamp  to  cut  down  the  hard 
manntean  bushes,  which  were  used  to  form  sup- 
ports for  the  road,  and  were  covered  with  sand, 
which  we  excavated  for  that  purpose  from  the  side 
of  the  hill.  Our  orders  from  the  captain  were  as 
follows :  "  Keep  moving,  my  boys,  keep  busy,  let 
there  be  no  actual  idleness,  for  Tovey  (the  captain 
of  the  militia)  has  his  eye  on  us.  Still,  don't  over- 
work yourselves." 

Needless  to  say,  we  took  his  advice,  yet  we  did 
very  good  work,  and  felt  a  real  pride  in  the  fine 
road  that  soon  began  to  cross  the  swamp.  In  our 
leisure  hours  we  built  ourselves  huts,  thatched 
with  needles  from  the  rapu  rushes.  Gilbert, 


214  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

another  man,  and  myself  constructed  a  fine  little 
house  on  the  summit  of  the  Mesa  overhanging  the 
river.  We  slung  up  three  bunks  and  lived  there 
very  comfortably,  having  a  most  beautiful  view  of 
the  Waimapu  Eiver  and  the  surrounding  country. 
Nor  were  we  entirely  without  sport.  The  wild 
duck  abounded  there,  and  we  often  made  a  raid 
upon  them,  for  they  were  by  no  means  to  be 
despised  as  an  addition  to  our  ordinary  rations. 
Fish,  too,  were  very  plentiful  in  the  river,  vast 
numbers  of  kauai  (pronounced  cow-eye)  came  up 
with  the  tide.  When  the  tide  falls  they  return  to 
the  sea,  observing  which  we  took  good  care  to  be 
on  the  spot  when  they  arrived,  and  welcomed  them 
warmly,  as  they  were  very  good  to  eat,  and  had  a 
most  delicate  flavour. 

Of  course  we  had  our  usual  parade,  picket  and 
sentry  duties  to  perform,  for  the  How-Hows  had  a 
trick  of  appearing  when  least  expected,  and  kept 
us  always  on  the  qui  vive.  But  altogether  we  had 
a  very  good  time  of  it,  and  were  just  busy  enough 
to  banish  ennui.  Some  of  the  men  would  some- 
times steal  out  of  the  camp  at  night,  cross-  the 
country  to  the  Gate  Pa  in  order  to  procure  whiskey, 
and  would  be  back  again  before  parade,  the  love  of 
drink  overcoming  all  fears  of  the  enemy  or  dread 
of  punishment.  One  of  these  men,  an  Irishman 
called  Murphy,  commonly  known  as  "  Spud 
Murphy,"  a  truly  comical  scoundrel,  would  return 
sometimes  very  drunk,  and  on  reaching  the  top  of 
{she  Mesa  would  let  himself  rojl  qver  an4  over  into, 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  215 

the  river,  where  he  would  swim  about  until  sober, 
"  cooling  himself  off,"  as  he  graphically  expressed 
it — a  very  necessary  operation.  That  he  never 
came  to  any  harm  on  his  dangerous  nocturnal 
walks  can  only  be  explained  by  a  belief  in  the 
old  proverb,  "  Providence  protects  children  and 
drunkards." 

One  dark  night  I  was  on  guard  on  the  neck  of 
the  Mesa,  and  after  passing  the  usual  hours  on 
duty  was  glad  enough  when  I  was  relieved,  and 
turned  into  the  guard  hut  to  enjoy  a  pipe  before 
going  in  to  my  own  shanty.  The  sergeant  was 
there,  and  he  and  I  were  chatting  sotto  voce,  when 
suddenly  he  rose  up,  saying :  "  I  must  go  and  look 
after  that  confounded  sentry  to  the  right,  he  has 
not  passed  for  the  last  ten  minutes,  the  wretch 
must  be  asleep  or  dead." 

"  Wait,  I'll  go  with  you,"  I  cried;  and,  seizing 
our  rifles,  we  hurried  out. 

At  the  place  where  the  sentry  of  that  point  was 
supposed  to  be  keeping  watch  we  could  discover 
no  one,  and  it  was  not  until  we  had  poked  about 
in  the  dark  for  no  inconsiderable  time  that  we  dis- 
covered our  friend  "  Spud  Murphy  "  lying  under  a 
bush  fast  asleep  and  gloriously  drunk. 

The  sergeant  took  away  his  rifle,  rolling  him 
over  with  his  foot  as  he  did  so,  but  Murphy  was 
not  disturbed  by  such  a  trifle,  and  only  gave  a  pro- 
longed and  triumphant  snore  as  his  head  settled 
more  comfortably  in  a  tuft  of  grass.  I  begged  the 
sergeant  to  say  nothing  about  it,  and  to  le.t  me  go 


216  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

on  duty  in  "  Spud's  "  place.  After  some  hesita- 
tion he  consented,  and  I  began  pacing  up  and 
down  in  the  darkness  waiting  for  Murphy  to 
awake.  After  about  an  hour  he  did  so,  and, 
missing  his  rifle,  was  in  a  great  fright. 

"  Oh,  holy  Vargin,"  he  prayed,  coming  towards 
me,  "only  but  show  me  whereiver  I  placed  me 
rifle,  and  niver  again  will  I  touch  whiskey,  the 
evil  cratur." 

It  was  very  dark,  and  he  was  very  drunk,  but 
even  so  to  take  me  for  the  Virgin  was,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,  odd,  and  I  hardly  knew  whether  I  felt 
more  embarrassed  at  the  implied  compliment,  or 
wounded  in  my  amour  propre  at  being  taken  for  a 
woman. 

"  Keep  silence,  you  idiot !  "  I  whispered  to  him, 
seizing  him  by  the  collar  of  his  shirt,  and  shaking 
him  with  a  force  that  effectually  proved  to  him 
that  he  was  in  no  woman's  grip.  "  Go  into  the 
guard-house.  A  nice  mess  you've  got  yourself 
into !  " 

Thoroughly  alarmed,  he  stole  into  the  hut,  where 
I  joined  him  when  my  self-imposed  watch  was  over, 
and  begged  the  sergeant  not  to  report  him,  as  no 
harm  was  done,  and  no  one  knew  of  it  but  our 
three  selves.  The  sergeant  pretended  to  refuse  to 
give  in  for  a  long  time,  but  finally,  having  reduced 
poor  "  Spuds  "  to  a  limp  state  of  abject  misery,  he 
consented  to  pass  it  over. 

Such  conduct  on  the  part  of  a  sentry  deserves 
the  most  rigorous  punishment,  the  lives  of  so  many 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  217 

being  dependent  on  his  vigilance.  Murphy  did 
not  make  us  repent  of  our  lenience  towards  him, 
as  although  I  cannot  say  he  never  touched  the 
"  cratur  "  again,  he  certainly  never  did  when  on 
duty. 

On  another  occasion,  after  we  had  all  retired  to 
rest,  and  the  entire  camp  was  wrapped  in  silence 
and  darkness,  we  were  all  disturbed  in  the  middle 
of  the  night  by  the  sharp  report  of  a  rifle.  In  a 
very  short  space  of  time  we  were  all  under  arms, 
fully  expecting  an  engagement  with  the  enemy, 
ever  ubiquitous,  yet  seldom  seen.  What  resolu- 
tions to  perform  heroic  deeds  sprang  suddenly  into 
our  martial  breasts !  How  many  undeveloped 
heroes  stood  side  by  side,  determining  at  all 
hazards  to  win  their  laurels,  to  exterminate  by 
various  acts  of  transcendent  bravery  these  canni- 
balistic savages  who  even  now  were  preparing  to 
pour  their  deadly  fire  upon  us  !  What  nodding  of 
heads  a  la  Jupiter  !  What  metaphorical  clapping 
of  wings  !  What  compressing  of  lips — lips  some- 
what pale,  it  is  true — but  then  the  night  air  pro- 
duces sometimes  strange  effects !  And  after  all,  it 
was  but  a  false  alarm,  a  "  schiser,"  as  gold  miners 
say.  One  of  the  sentries  being  a  little  under  the 
influence  of  the  "  cratur,"  mistook  a  bush  for  a 
Maori,  "  both  being  black,"  as  he  explained,  and 
having  more  valour  than  discretion,  fired  accord- 
ingly. Before  discharging  his  gun,  however,  he 
drew  out  his  bayonet  and  cast  it  aside.  Why? 
Ah !  that  remains  a  mystery  unsolved  to  the 


218  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

present  day :  he  either  could  not  or  would  not  give 
an  explanation  of  so  singular  a  performance.  The 
whole  corps  stood  there  armed  and  ready  for  action, 
called  up  by  his  over-zeal ;  so  having  not  even  one 
cold  native  to  show  up  for  breakfast,  our  sentry 
looked  rather  foolish,  and  muttering  something  to 
the  effect  that  he  could  not  help  it,  if  the  "  darned 
bush  looked  as  black  as  a  darned  Maori,"  slunk 
back  to  his  interrupted  duty. 

We,  on  the  other  hand,  gathered  ourselves  up, 
feeling  at  least  one  cubit  higher  in  stature  for  all 
the  Maoris  we  had  not  killed,  and  with  a  glow  of 
pride  burning  within  us,  returned  to  bed. 

The  wonderful  and  intimate  knowledge  "  some 
of  ours"  displayed  in  the  use  of  firearms  was  a 
marvellous  sight  to  see.  Another  private,  the 
greatest — no,  I  will  not  say  the  word — I  will  only 
say  the  most  fearfully  nervous  man  I  ever  came 
across — had  a  sort  of  Maori-phobia,  and  on  the 
night  of  our  false  alarm,  having  the  advantage  of 
standing  near  Somers,  I  observed  him  with  great 
interest  and  no  little  wonder.  In  a  fearful  state  of 
excitement,  he  crammed  cartridge  upon  cartridge 
into  his  rifle  until  the  poor  thing  could  hold  no 
more. 

"  I'll  have  a  shot  at  the  black  brutes  anyhow," 
he  said  to  me,  his  teeth  rattling  in  his  head,  and 
his  whole  body  trembling  violently. 

"  You  had  better  keep  your  bones  quiet,"  I  said, 
rather  wickedly,  "  for  the  How-Hows  can  hear 
the  breathing  of  a  flv." 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  219 

"Black  devils,  I'll— I'll Oh,  what's  that  ?" 

howled  my  brave  comrade,  his  eyes  opening  so 
wide  that  I  really  feared  for  him  or  them,  while  his 
hair  standing  up  with  fright  gave  him  a  weird  and 
awful  look.  I  have  never  before  or  since  seen  any 
one  terror-struck,  literally  beside  himself  with 
fear. 

"  It's  nothing,"  I  replied  to  his  cry,  "  only  the 
sentry  returning  to  his  duty.  But,  Somers,  the 
How- Hows  are  not  black,  they  are  a  lovely  clear 
brown,  and  are  by  a  long  shot  better  built  men 
than  we  Europeans." 

Somers  gave  a  grunt  of  disgust,  and  with  the 
words,  "Brown  or  black,  they  are  worse  than  the 
devil,"  sought  his  bunk  like  the  rest  of  us.  The 
next  day,  at  the  roll  call,  he  did  not  answer,  having 
absconded  at  daybreak.  Some  time  afterwards  I 
met  him  in  Auckland,  selling  riding  whips  in  the 
streets.  What  a  work  it  was  unloading  his  rifle  ! 

A  dozen  more  privates  were  sent  over  from  Gate 
Pa  to  increase  our  little  body.  Among  the  new 
comers  I  recognized  a  man  who  had  played  me  a 
scurvy  trick  back  in  my  Shortland  days.  It  had 
happened  thus  :  the  episode  is  worth  relating, 
although  I  go  back  to  that  horrible  time  with 
considerable  repugnance. 

One  dreadful  day,  dreadful  only  to  such  a 
starving  unfortunate  as  I  was  then,  for  the  weather 
was  simply  perfect,  I  was  roaming  about  like  a 
certain  gentleman  (sable  as  to  his  exterior)  seek- 
ing what  I  might  devour.  Suddenly  a  cheery 


220  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

voice  hailed  me,  "  I  say,  Auld  Misery,  will  yer 
gie  us  a  ban'  wi'  this  'ere  chist  ?  " 

I  turned  and  saw  a  decently-dressed  man  stand- 
ing by  the  side  of  a  seaman's  chest.  Without 
further  parley  I  took  one  end  of  his  box,  and  he 
the  other,  and  between  us  we  managed  to  carry, 
drag,  haul,  and  pull  it  on  board  a  sloop  which  lay 
high  and  dry  on  the  beach,  waiting  for  the  in- 
coming tide. 

"  Here,  tek  this,  and  do  for  the  Lord's  sake  git 
yersell  a  blow-out,  for  yer  doant  look  human,"  he 
said,  giving  me  five  shillings.  Feeling  quite  rich, 
I  did  allow  myself  a  meal,  and  then  started  for 
Auckland,  hoping  to  obtain  some  employment 
there.  This  cost  me  two  shillings,  one  for  the 
dinner — fearful  extravagance  ! — and  one  for  a  lift 
on  the  long  journey  to  the  town.  I  therefore  had 
three  shillings  left,  which  I  calculated  would  last 
me  three  weeks.  Lodging  al  fresco  cost  nothing, 
and  light  meals  are  conducive  to  quiet  repose. 

I  reached  Auckland,  and  going  to  a  newspaper 
office,  requested  permission  to  look  over  the  adver- 
tisements, in  the  hope  of  finding  an  engagement 
suitable  for  me.  While  so  employed  I  heard  a  man 
telling  the  editor  a  long  and  highly-coloured  yarn 
about  the  gold-mines  at  the  Thames,  how  many 
miners  were  at  work,  the  heavy  wages  given — in 
fact,  showing  that  everything  was  flourishing,  and 
depicting  a  little  paradise  of  prosperity,  wealth, 
and  happiness. 

"  Draw  it  mild,  my  friend,"  I  said,  going  up  to 


SARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  221 

the  enthusiastic  talker,  "  I  am  a  miner  myself,  and 
I  have  just  come  from  the  Thames.  My  experience 
is  that  all  the  mines,  with  the  exception  of  three 
or  four  outside  Shortland,  are  '  bust  up,'  and  hun- 
dreds of  men  are  out  of  work." 

"  All  bosh  and  gammon ! "  cried  the  man  ;  "  why, 
I  will  employ  any  number  of  men  I  can  get ;  aye, 
and  pay  them  £2  10s.  a  week.  I  want  them,  I  do." 

"  Will  you  take  me,  and  pay  me  that  amount  ?  " 
I  asked. 

"  Most  certainly  I  will,  and  what  is  more,  will 
take  you  over  to  Shortland  in  my  boat  on  Wed- 
nesday next ;  but  mind,  you  must  pay  your  pas- 


"  Agreed !  "  said  I ;  "  I  will  pay  you  out  of  the 
first  wages  you  give  me ;  and  pray  where  shall  I 
find  you  on  Wednesday?  " 

"I  lodge  at  the  '  When-you-  Appear  '  Hotel; 
my  name  is  Jones.  Ask  for  Captain  Jones.  Good 
morning." 

Having  nothing  better  to  do,  I  went  off  to  find 
the  "  When-you- Appear  "  Hotel.  No  one  could 
direct  me.  Some  grinned,  some  laughed  outright. 
At  length,  by  mere  accident,  I  came  in  front  of  a 
largish  building,  with  the  name  "  Winyard  Pier" 
Hotel  written  over  it  in  immense  letters. 

"  I've  been  done  brown  by  a  Jones,  at  a  tern- 
perature  of  212  Fahr.,"  I  muttered  to  myself,  as  I 
entered  the  bar  room. 

"  I  say,  boss,"  I  called  out,  "  does  Captain  Jones 
lodge  here?" 


§22  BAM1)  LIFE  IN  T&E  COLONIES. 

11  Captain  Jones  !  Let  me  see.  A  Captain  Jones 
was  here  some  months  ago.  A  rum  cuss,  sure 
enough.  I  heard  that  he  sailed  for  the  west  coast 
yesterday  ;  gone  to  Taranaki,  I  think." 

"Are  you  sure  that  he  sailed?  "  I  asked. 

"  Oh !  "  was  the  answer,  "  no  one  is  sure  of  Cap- 
tain Jones.  Why  do  you  ask  ?  " 

I  mildly  suggested  that  a  balloon  would  be  the 
most  appropriate  means  to  reach  that  country, 
whereat  "mine  host  "  haw-hawed  vigorously,  and 
colonial  fashion  insisted  that  I  should  have  a  drink. 
Nothing  loth,  I  drank  the  ale,  and  felt  revived,  for 
the  beer  was  good ;  then  I  left  the  hotel  in  a  mixed 
state  of  mind  between  gratitude  for  this  slight 
kindness  and  the  desire  to  punch  Captain  Jones's 
head. 

So  now,  seeing  this  worthy  among  the  volunteer 
privates,  I  went  up  to  him.  "  Ah  !  Captain  Jones, 
I  think  ?  How  about  the  numbers  of  miners  you 
needed  to  work  the  gold  at  £2  10s.  a  week  ?  " 

"  Were  you  one  that  I  had  promised  it  to?" 
asked  the  rogue,  quite  unabashed  ;  "•  I  promised  it 
to  so  many  (in  a  tone  as  if  he  had  acted  most 
generously)  that  I  really  forget  their  faces." 

"Well,  I  promised  myself  that  if  ever  I  came 
across  you  again  I'd  punch  your  head,"  I  remarked, 
suiting  the  action  to  the  words,  and  sending  "  Cap- 
tain Jones  "  to  embrace  Mother  Earth.  The  poor 
wretch  was  so  weak  from  starvation  and  misery, 
that  having  knocked  him  down,  I  felt  compelled  to 
help  him  up  again,  and  see  that  he  was  taken  care 


HARD  LIFE  IN  T3E  COLONIES:  §23 

of.  In  a  very  shgrt  time  he  became  an  excellent 
soldier  and  a  good  comrade,  although  always  apt 
to  draw  the  long  bow.  One  glorious  morning  we 
were  on  dress  parade,  making  a  fine  show  in  our 
picturesque  costume,  when  for  a  little  change  we 
were  ordered  to  fire  a  few  rounds.  Some  of  the 
men,  as  I  have  before  hinted,  were  better  known 
for  their  zeal  than  for  their  knowledge  of  arms.  I 
was  standing  side  by  side  with  my  friend,  when 
the  man  in  his  rear  suddenly  raised  his  rifle, 
fired,  and  missed  shooting  Gilbert  by  a  hair's 
breadth. 

"  What  are  you  about,  you  blasted  fool !  "  cried 
my  friend,  with  pardonable  indignation,  as  he  set 
his  cap  straight,  that  the  air  from  the  passage  of 
the  bullet  had  blown  aside.  The  private  seemed 
rather  disappointed  that  his  shot  had  not  done 
some  greater  execution,  and  boasted  tremendously 
of  the  near  shave  Gilbert  had  had. 

And  now  our  military  career  draws  to  a  close. 
Our  lieutenant,  the  same  worthy  who  had  shown 
himself  so  wise  and  brave  when  we  went  to  carry 
provisions  to  the  Point,  having  come  across  a 
deserted  settler's  house,  had  given  orders  that  the 
furniture  therein  should  be  carried  to  his  own 
hut,  in  order  that  he  might  be  more  comfortable, 
and  arguing  that  he  was  quite  justified  in  so  doing, 
as  all  that  district  was  in  military  occupation,  and 
therefore  everything  found  there  might  be  used  by 
the  officers  and  men.  However,  a  great  row  was 
made  about  the  matter  j  it  was  reported  to  head- 


224  HAitD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

quarters  with  a  good  deal  of  exaggeration,  and  the 
upshot  of  it  was  that  we  were  recalled. 

We  knew  well  enough  that  the  real  reason  was, 
that  so  many  troops  quartered  in  different  parts  of 
the  country  were  a  heavy  expense  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  road  having  been  made,  troops  could 
in  case  of  need  more  easily  get  to  the  scene  of 
action.  The  enemy,  too,  appeared  to  have  deserted 
this  part,  or  so  we  were  told,  although  we  were 
always  coining  across  them,  and  knew  that  they 
were  only  waiting  an  opportunity  to  massacre  the 
whites.  However,  one  excuse  is  as  good  as  another, 
and  this  one  was  gladly  seized  hold  of  by  the  autho- 
rities to  "  reduce  the  expenditure." 

It  was  not  without  regret  that  we  dismantled 
our  huts,  and  turned  our  backs  on  the  Mesa,  where 
we  had  been  so  happy.  We  marched  along  the  fine 
road  we  had  made,  paused  to  salute  the  one-eyed 
captain  of  the  militia,  who  leered  at  us  horribly, 
and  seemed  to  find  the  reason  given  for  our  recall 
a  source  of  infinite  amusement,  for  we  left  him 
grinning  from  ear  to  ear,  in  spite  of  the  angry 
face  of  our  captain,  who  naturally  did  not  see  the 
joke,  and  resented  Tovey's  untimely  mirth. 

On  we  marched  to  Tanronga,  thence  by  easy 
stages  to  Auckland,  and  finally  to  Shortland,  which 
town  we  entered  in  grand  style,  and  in  such  good 
trim  that  it  was  difficult  to  believe  we  were  the 
same  body  of  ragged  starving  creatures  who  had 
left  some  months  before.  We  were  not  disbanded 
at  once,  being  ordered  to  do  military  duty  until 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  225 

our  pay  came.  Every  one  made  a  great  deal  of  us, 
and  treated  us  in  fact  as  though  we  were  veteran 
heroes  of  a  thousand  fights.  To  hear  some  of  the 
men  talk  you  would  imagine  that  to  kill  Maoris  was 
the  daily  occupation,  and  that  we  were  always 
steeped  in  the  blood  of  the  rebel  How-Hows. 
"  Captain  Jones  "  in  particular  had  some  wonderful 
adventures  that  he  was  never  tired  of  relating.  I 
heard  him  once,  when  he  did  not  know  I  was  near, 
and  really  it  was  as  good  as  a  romance  of  the 
stirring  deeds  of  ancient  days.  I  marvelled  at  the 
fellow's  imagination.  When  I  tackled  him  the 
next  day,  and  asked  him  how  he  ventured  to  con- 
coct such  a  tissue  of  lies,  he  said  with  a  wink  and 
a  grin,  "  Those  gulls  would  swaller  anything ; 
they  likes  it,  it  pays  me,  and  besides,  it  might 
have  'appened ! " 

Many  a  hero  has  no  better  foundation  for  his 
glorious  fame,  so  let  me  too  clap  my  wings  and 
cry,  "  Cock-a-doodle-doo." 

Pay-day  came,  and  with  our  pockets  well  lined, 
and  some  complimentary  words  from  our  captain, 
Gilbert  and  I  turned  our  backs  on  the  armoury, 
and  ceased  to  be  members  of  the  First  Hauraki 
Eifle  Volunteer  Corps. 


III.— AUSTRALIA   AND   'FRISCO. 

Sic   transit  gloria — Tuesday  !      It  was  on  the 
third  day  of  the  week  that  Gilbert  Jenkins,  Dane 

16 


226  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

Stuart,  and  myself  ceased  to  be  members  of  the 
First  Hauraki  Rifle  Volunteer  Corps,  as  the 
Government,  being  eager  to  cut  down  expenses, 
had  seized  upon  a  misdemeanour  of  our  lieutenant's 
as  a  sufficient  excuse  to  recall  and  disband  us.  It 
was  not  without  real  regret  that  we  laid  aside  our 
picturesque  costume — it  was  so  becoming — bade 
good-bye  to  our  captain,  who  was  a  true,  good 
fellow,  and  turned  our  backs  on  our  soldier  life. 
We  each  had  a  good  round  sum  of  money  in  our 
pockets,  and  having  determined  not  to  separate  we 
adjourned  to  a  neighbouring  tavern,  called  for  ale 
and  sat  down  to  a  "palaver"  concerning  our 
future  plans.  I  was  the  patriarch,  and,  like  many 
patriarchs,  was  far  more  ignorant  than  my  younger 
comrades.  We  talked  long  and  earnestly,  and 
with  the  gravity  befitting  the  occasion,  weighed 
the  boot  trade  against  the  book  shop,  the  butcher- 
ing business  against  the  baker's,  the  bush  life 
against  the  costermonger's,  and  so  on.  Two  hours' 
hard  and  heavy  talk  brought  no  results  beyond 
formidable  appetites. 

"What  shall  we  do?"  cried  Dane  in  despair, 
brushing  up  his  sandy  locks  until  they  stood 
upright,  giving  him  a  comical  resemblance  to  a 
Scotch  terrier. 

"  Eat,"  said  Gilbert,  dryly,  disgusted  that  so 
much  talk  should  lead  to  so  little  result. 

We  followed  his  sage  advice,  and  with  eating,  a 
luminous  idea  occurred  to  me.  Yes,  I  can  take  all 
the  credit  of  the  notion  to  myself;  indeed,  as  it 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  227 

failed,  neither  of  the  others  would  thank  me  to 
name  them  as  instigator  of  the  plan  that  turned 
three  late  privates  of  the  First  Hauraki  Kifle 
Volunteer  Corps  into  pedlars  !  At  the  time, 
however,  it  seemed  to  promise  well.  We  put  our 
money  together,  and  rented  for  a  small  sum  a 
vacant  house  outside  Auckland.  The  house  was 
very  much  out  of  repair,  the  doors  in  most  rooms 
being  conspicuous  by  their  absence,  and  those  that 
were  there  could  never  by  any  amount  of  coaxing 
or  force  be  induced  to  move  an  inch  either  way, 
from  the  half-opened  position  in  which  they  had 
been  placed.  True,  it  saved  us  the  trouble  of 
opening  and  shutting  them,  nor  were  we  ever 
driven  to  frenzy  by  their  banging  in  a  high  wind. 
The  windows — well,  there  were  window-frames,  and 
there  had  been  panes  of  glass,  but  here,  as  in  old 
England,  a  deserted  house  is  an  irresistible  target 
for  every  passing  boy  to  have  a  shy  at,  and  judging 
by  the  holes,  some  of  them  were  good  shots,  so  the 
panes  were  few  and  far  between.  Still,  the  four 
walls  of  the  house  and  the  roof  were  solid  and 
water-tight,  and  we  neither  of  us  felt  anything  but 
a  pride  in  our  mansion.  Was  it  not  our  own  ?  We 
very  quickly  got  the  absolute  necessaries,  turning 
aside  with  Spartan  firmness  from  the  smallest  of 
luxuries,  and  installing  ourselves  in  .  state  one 
evening,  had  another  two  hours'  hard  and  heavy 
talk  on  the  "  stock"  we  thought  most  likely  to 
sell,  and  having  settled  that  knotty  point  retired 
to  rest  with  hopeful  hearts,  all  undaunted  by  past 


228  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

experiences,  and  in  merciful  ignorance  of  future 
troubles. 

The  verb  tl  to  sell  "  can  be  conjugated  in  many 
different  ways  ;  we  were  not  long  in  finding  that 
grammatical  fact  out.  The  stock  we  bought  had 
been  guaranteed  by  a  fairly  honest  tradesman  ;  not 
that  we  trusted  to  him  entirely.  No,  we  put  our 
common  sense  also  to  bear  on  the  subject ;  never- 
theless, we  failed,  which  looks  as  though  the 
common  sense  of  the  three  of  us,  and  the  guarantee 
of  the  fairly  honest  tradesman,  were  no  match  for 
the  wiles  and  wickednesses  of  the  people  of 
Auckland.  Certain  it  is  that  we  laboured  much, 
and  talked  more,  peddling  our  goods  through  the 
country,  but  all  to  no  avail.  We  were  afraid  of 
the  women.  I  think  they  saw  that  and  took 
unmerciful  advantage.  They  would  help  them- 
selves, paying  what  they  chose,  and  treated  us 
generally  as  though  we  were  two  (one  of  us  always 
stayed  in  our  house  to  look  after  things  and  cook 
the  dinner)  nicely- spoken,  harmless  imbeciles.  So 
we  found  the  goods  going  out  and  no  money 
coming  in.  The  wandering  through  the  country 
was  very  pleasant,  and  one  picture  of  marvellous 
beauty  remains  in  my  memory  even  in  that  scenery 
where  all  was  lovely. 

It  was  Dane's  turn  to  stay  in  the  house,  so 
Gilbert  and  I  set  out  udock  digging,"  as  it  is 
called.  We  were  not  in  very  good  spirits,  for  we 
saw,  although  we  had  not  yet  acknowledged  it  to 
each  other,  that  our  present  trade  was  a  failure,  so 


HAttt)  Llffti  IN  THE  COLONIES  22§ 

we  jogged  on  in  somewhat  gloomy  silence.  It  was 
a  perfect  day,  neither  too  hot  nor  too  cold,  and  as 
we  went  on  through  the  balmy  air,  and  noted  the 
luxuriant  growth  of  trees  and  flowers,  our  hearts 
grew  lighter,  our  tongues  unloosened,  and  we 
admitted  to  each  other  that  we  had  been  "  sold  " 
once  more,  and  it  would  be  wiser  to  try  some  other 
line  of  life  before  our  last  pound  was  swallowed  up 
in  our  present  losing  business. 

So  we  stepped  on  more  briskly,  and  in  turning 
the  corner  of  a  lane  we  came  upon  a  most  wonder- 
fully beautiful  sight.  Picture  to  yourself  a 
cloudless  blue  sky,  a  golden  sunlight,  green  and 
profuse  vegetation,  and  under  the  shade  of  an 
immense  tree  a  small  cottage,  entirely  covered 
with  the  scarlet  passion-tree.  It  was  in  full  bloom, 
and  these  marvellous  flowers  peeped  in  at  the 
windows  and  over  the  door,  and  twined  themselves 
around  the  chimney,  and  even  threw  out  tendrils 
to  the  overhanging  branches  of  the  tree  above. 
To  complete  the  picture  a  young  half-caste  Maori 
woman,  superbly  made  and  of  rare  beauty,  stood  at 
the  door,  her  only  clothing  a  piece  of  white  linen 
around  her  waist,  which  did  not  hide  the  graceful 
contours  of  her  shapely  limbs.  As  she  stood  there, 
in  the  act  of  picking  a  branch  of  the  passion 
flower,  her  pose  was  so  graceful,  her  beauty  so 
striking,  that  all  the  artist  spirit  rushed  back  upon 
me,  and  I  would  have  given  a  kingdom  for  a  canvas, 
brush,  and  colours.  The  Queen  of  Sheba  was  a 
dairy-wench  compared  to  this  soft-eyed,  lovely 


230  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

Maori  maiden ;  and  even  ox-eyed  Juno  would  have 
been  put  aside  in  her  presence. 

So  our  last  "  dock  digging  "  expedition  has 
always  remained  in  our  memories  with  pleasure, 
for  having  decided  to  abandon  that  noble  pro- 
fession, we  lost  no  time  in  selling  what  the  women 
had  kindly  left  us  of  our  "  stock  "  to  the  self-same 
fairly  honest  tradesman  from  whom  we  had  pur- 
chased it.  He  asked  how  we  had  got  on,  and 
having  extracted  various  details  from  us  as  to  our 
manner  of  selling,  &c.,  gave  vent  to  his  feelings  by 
a  shrill  whistle  that  would  not  have  disgraced  a 
steam-engine  or  a  schoolboy. 

It  does  not  take  long  in  this  country  to  turn 
from  one  trade  to  another,  or  to  free  yourself  from 
the  encumbrance  of  a  house.  Our  arrangements 
were  quickly  made,  and  with  the  money  left  us 
from  our  unlucky  attempt  at  "  peddling,"  we 
resolved  to  try  our  fortunes  in  Australia.  There, 
at  least,  we  could  procure  food  by  hunting,  and 
live  retired  in  the  bush,  "  away  from  the  world's 
cold  strife,"  which,  by  the  bye,  is  all  bosh.  One 
has  quite  as  much  anxiety  there  as  everywhere 
else  on  the  surface  of  this  fractious,  fretful  little 
earth  of  ours. 

We  went  into  the  town  of  Auckland,  that  beau- 
tiful city,  where  all  is  beautiful,  but  one  gets 
heartily  sick  of  so  much  beauty  with  res  angustce 
domi,  and  taking  our  passages  on  board  a  sailing 
vessel,  landed  without  accident  or  adventure  in 
Sidney,  New  South  Wales.  Beautiful  city  too, 


BARD  LIFE  IN  TSE  COLONIES.  231 

but  I  recollect  it  best  by  the  fact  that  we  were 
nearly  devoured  by  the  hotel  "  tooters,"  who 
pursued  us  all  over  the  town,  hoping  to  make  some 
money  out  of  us,  for  we  were  all  three  well  dressed, 
and  carried  ourselves  with  the  soldierly  bearing 
learnt  during  our  life  as  privates  in  the  First 
Hauraki  Eifle  Volunteer  Corps.  So  the  "tooters" 
had  their  labour  in  vain,  for,  as  the  Yankees  say, 
11  we  could  not  be  did."  Baffled  and  disgusted, 
they  at  last  got  weary  of  following  and  pestering 
us,  and  slunk  off  one  by  one  in  search  of  easier 
prey. 

We  finally  got  lodgings  in  Erskine  Street,  near 
the  wharf,  and  looked  out  for  a  boat  bound  for 
Melbourne.  We  were  not  long  in  finding  what 
we  wanted,  and  having  secured  our  berths,  went 
on  board  the  dirty,  dingy  little  vessel,  feeling  fairly 
hopeful  as  to  our  future. 

A  few  days  after  we  landed  in  Melbourne, 
another  beautiful  city,  but  one  whose  ostentations 
and  pompous  show  of  wealth  is  somewhat  crushing 
to  the  hundreds  of  poor,  homeless,  penniless  exiles 
who  throng  her  portals  in  search  of  food  and 
shelter. 

Dane  Stuart  had  an  aunt  living  in  Melbourne. 
I,  too,  had  relations  there,  but  we  neither  of  us 
made  any  attempt  to  visit  them.  Cui  bono  ?  We 
had  passed  out  of  their  lives,  they  out  of  ours. 
For  my  own  part  I  shrank  from  the  sorrowful 
memories  this  city  brought  back  to  me,  and  drove 
away  the  fast  recurring  thoughts  of  the  Hurricane, 


232  HAttD  LIFE  IN  'THE  COLONIES. 

wrecked  within  sight  of  land,  carrying  down  with 
her  all  I  possessed  in  the  world. 

We  were  all  three  eager  to  begin  our  new  life, 
so  only  remained  in  Melbourne  long  enough  to 
procure  tent,  rifles,  blankets,  knives,  and  some 
other  things  absolutely  necessary  for  bush  life. 
This  done  we  packed  up  our  baggage  and  migrated 
to  Lillydale,  a  town  about  twenty  miles  north  of 
Melbourne,  with  nothing  of  note  to  mark  it  from 
any  other  ordinary  town.  From  thence  we  jour- 
neyed on  foot  near  to  the  Dandenmy  Mountains, 
which  abounded  in  game  of  all  sorts  and  sizes, 
kangaroos,  bears,  opossums,  &c.,  &c.  Our  first 
capture  was  a  great  rat,  which  we  thought  was  a 
bandicoot.  Now  the  bandicoot  is  the  best  of  all 
the  bush  "  varmin  "  to  eat.  So  our  joy  was  great 
as  we  skinned  him,  prepared  him  for  the  spit,  and 
roasted  him  before  a  clear  wood  fire  just  outside 
our  tent.  We  ate  him  with  great  complacency, 
and  could  not  sufficiently  admire  the  exquisite 
flavour  and  great  delicacy  and  tenderness  of  his 
white  flesh.  We  determined  to  keep  our  eyes 
open  and  try  and  catch  some  more  of  the  same 
species. 

A  day  or  two  afterwards  a  sporting  gentle- 
man passed  by  our  camp,  and  seeing  the  skin 
and  head  of  the  animal  nailed  up  to  dry,  questioned 
us  about  it. 

"It's  a  bandicoot  that  my  friend  shot  the  other 
day ;  we  kept  the  skin  because  it  is  so  handsome, 
but  we  ate  the  brute,  and  very  good  he  was,"  I 


HARD  LIFE  IN  TSE  COLONIES.  23^ 

answered,  a  faint  doubt  springing  up  into  my  mind 
as  to  whether  he  was  so  very  good  after  all. 

11  Faugh  !  "  cried  the  sportsman,  "  why  you've 
eaten  a  beastly  bush  rat,  and  found  it  very  good. 
Ha !  ha !  ha  1  "  His  laugh  had  all  the  melody  of  a 
sow  undergoing  the  operation  of  having  its  teeth 
filed.  No  matter — it  was  not  the  last  queer  thing 
we  devoured,  and  we  had  also  learnt  the  difference 
between  a  bandicoot  and  a  bush  rat — a  good  thing 
in  its  way.  No  harm  was  done,  for  our  stomachs 
made  no  difficulty  in  digesting  the  mistake. 

Our  next  exploit  was  shooting  a  bear.  The 
particular  species  that  live  in  these  mountains  are 
very  curious  animals.  They  are  not  bigger  than  a 
large  dog,  brown  in  colour,  with  rather  a  pointed 
muzzle,  and  their  paws  and  feet  provided  with  very 
terrible  claws.  On  the  whole  they  are  quiet, 
harmless  brutes,  and  make  good  and  affectionate 
pets.  Gilbert  and  I  discovered  one  high  up  in  a 
tree,  lying  at  fall  length  sunning  himself  and  lazily 
licking  his  paws.  We  forthwith  opened  fire  upon 
him.  Our  first  shots  took  no  effect ;  I  think  he 
winked.  Thirty  shots,  that  is  to  say,  thirty  times 
we  fired  at  him,  still  no  change  in  his  attitude  of 
unruffled  composure.  At  last  in  despair  I  went 
back  to  the  tent  for  a  rifle,  with  which  Gilbert 
brought  him  down  dead  at  the  first  shot.  The  day 
before  had  been  very  wet,  and  pools  stood  about 
everywhere  on  the  sodden  ground.  Into  one  of 
these  pools  Mr.  Bruin  fell  with  a  flop,  covering  us 
with  mud  and  water  from  head  to  foot.  But  the 


234  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

joy  consequent  on  our  victory  overbalanced  all 
such  trifling  inconveniences.  We  cut  a  long  and 
strong  stick,  slung  our  prize  upon  it,  and  went  on 
our  way  rejoicing,  seeking  other  conquests.  Soon 
we  lost  our  way,  having  neglected  to  mark  our 
passage  by  notching  the  trees  as  we  went  along. 
We  wandered  on  and  on,  neither  finding  anything 
to  kill,  nor  our  lost  road  either.  Night  began  to 
descend  upon  us.  We  were  in  a  regular  fix,  for  we 
were  hungry,  the  ground  was  wet,  and  we  had  not 
even  a  blanket  with  us.  Sheer  weariness  at  last 
forced  us  to  call  a  halt,  and  we  determined,  bush 
fashion,  to  "make  a  camp."  Choosing  a  large 
tree  whose  thick  branches  had  somewhat  protected 
the  soil  beneath  from  the  rain,  we  hastily  collected 
wood,  and  stripping  the  leaves  from  the  branches, 
soon  lighted  a  fire,  around  which  we  crouched,  and 
wished  for  day.  But  a  couple  of  hours  of  this 
warm  but  cheerless  comfort  was  enough  for 
Gilbert,  who  had  doggedly  set  his  rnind  on  finding 
the  right  track,  and  the  moon  having  risen,  we  left 
our  fire — somewhat  to  my  regret,  I  must  confess — 
and  shouldering  our  bete-noir,  set  out  once  more. 
Very  shortly  we  stumbled  right  upon  a  road,  but 
here  was  another  difficulty — which  way  ought  we 
to  go  to  reach  our  tent,  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  ? 
The  bush  is  all  so  much  alike,  and  we  had  been 
foolish  enough  to  leave  our  compass  in  the  camp. 
Not  that  it  would  have  been  much  good  to  us,  for, 
having  so  lately  settled  down,  and  never  intending 
to  wander  far  as  yet,  we  had  taken  no  notes  as  to 


LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  235 

where  we  had  encamped  with  regard  to  the  town. 
Once  at  Lillydale  or  on  the  road,  we  knew  we 
should  eventually  reach  our  tent,  as  it  lay  in  a 
straight  line.  Undecided,  we  spent  some  minutes, 
I  in  trying  to  prove  that  the  right  must  be  right, 
and  Gilbert  voting  with  equal  vehemence  that  the 
left  was  sure  to  be  right.  We  were  just  going  to 
settle  the  knotty  point  by  tossing  up  a  penny  when 
we  saw  the  gleam  of  a  fire  in  the  distance. 

Leaving  Gilbert  sitting  on  Mr.  Bruin  to  watch 
by  the  road,  I  started  off  in  the  direction  of  the 
fire,  hoping  to  find  a  camp  of  wood-cutters  who 
could  direct  us.  But  on  reaching  the  spot  I 
found  it  deserted.  A  party  of  men  must  have 
been  there  but  a  short  time  before,  for  the  fire 
burnt  brightly,  and  there  were  relics  that  showed 
they  had  cooked  their  supper  there.  Nothing 
eatable  remained,  though  I  searched  carefully, 
hoping  to  find  if  only  a  bit  of  biscuit  with  which 
we  might  still  the  imperious  cries  of  our  empty 
interiors. 

So  I  returned  to  Gilbert,  whom  I  found  in  the 
same  posture,  nearly  asleep  in  spite  of  his  hunger. 
We  had  another  consultation,  which  resulted  like 
the  first — in  nothing  but  talk.  We  were  again 
going  to  have  recourse  to  the  mystic  aid  of  "  heads 
or  tails,"  when  we  heard  the  clanking  of  a  horse's 
hoofs  coming  towards  us. 

We  sprang  out  upon  the  road,  and,  stopping  the 
horseman,  inquired  the  way  to  Lillydale.  The 
man  simply  pointed  behind  him,  and  digging  his 


236  SAttb  Lt&E  IN  TtiE  COLONIES. 

spurs  into  his  horse's  flanks,  vanished  from  our 
sight  like  a  flash  of  lightning.  He  was  evidently 
in  great  terror  at  seeing  two  men  with  firearms, 
and  suspected  that  we  were  two  of  a  band  of 
bushrangers,  such  gentry  being  not  uncommon 
in  these  parts. 

Again  we  shouldered  our  bear,  and  dragged  on 
wet,  weary,  and  horribly  tired.  Bruin  seemed  to 
get  heavier  and  heavier,  but  we  were  too  proud 
of  him  to  leave  him  behind,  and  had  not  sufficient 
nous  to  skin  it,  so  we  endured  all  sorts  of 
discomfort  for  the  sake  of  this,  our  first  big  prize. 

After  what  seemed  to  us  a  long  and  toilsome 
way,  we  were  suddenly  agreeably  surprised  to  hear 
close  by  us  a  "coo-ee"  in  Dane's  shrill,  clear 
voice.  A  few  steps  more  around  a  clump  of 
bushes,  and  there  we  were  at  our  camp.  Stuart 
had  been  very  uneasy  at  our  prolonged  absence, 
had  imagined  all  sorts  of  evils,  and  had  pictured 
every  possible  and  impossible  accident  as  having 
"arrived"  to  us,  as  the  French  say.  Unable  to 
sleep,  he  had  prowled  around  the  tent,  a  prey  to 
the  most  lugubrious  thoughts,  when  he  heard  our 
voices,  and,  as  I  said  before,  "  coo-eed "  to  us 
both  loud  and  long. 

How  rejoiced  we  were  to  get  in,  dead  beat,  and 
as  hungry  as  Arctic  wolves  !  We  left  the  skinning 
of  our  bear  until  we  had  had  the  rest  of  which 
we  stood  in  great  need,  placing  him,  however, 
inside  our  tent  for  safety's  sake. 

A  few  days  after  we  moved  our  camp  further  into 


HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES.  287 

the  mountains,  to  a  place  called  "  The  Two  Sisters," 
a  savage,  wild,  but  lovely  spot,  that  kept  one  always 
in  a  state  of  rapturous  wonder  at  the  ever  new, 
ever  varying  beauties  of  nature.  Immense  quan- 
tities of  kangaroos  lived  there,  and  it  was  a 
curious  and  interesting  sight  to  see  a  band  of 
them  go  bounding  along  in  "  Indian  file  "  at  an 
incredible  pace.  The  females  are  called  "  flying 
does,"  from  the  speed  at  which  they  travel,  more 
resembling  a  bird  than  an  animal.  It  is  very 
pretty  to  see  the  little  ones  with  their  heads 
poking  out  of  their  mother's  pouch,  looking  out 
into  the  world  with  large,  soft,  wondering  eyes. 

One  morning  Gilbert  called  me  to  come  out 
from  the  tent  where  I  was  cooking  our  breakfast. 
On  going  out  I  joined  him  on  a  small  hillock, 
from  whence  we  saw  a  very  astonishing  sight.  A 
"mob  "  of  kangaroos,  comprising  some  hundreds, 
were  crossing  the  country.  They  were  headed 
by  a  deer,  who  acted  as  general  of  the  forces,  and 
whose  leadership  they  all  followed.  On  went  the 
deer  with  stately,  graceful  movements,  and  after 
followed  the  kangaroos,  springing  and  bounding  in 
the  most  grotesque  manner  imaginable.  We 
fairly  laughed  aloud,  and  watched  them  until 
their  "  general "  led  them  out  of  our  sight. 
Whether  the  deer  continues  to  live  with  the  herd 
after  having  piloted  them  in  safety  across  the 
country  I  do  not  know,  but  strange  as  it  appears, 
the  fact  remains  that  the  kangaroos  prefer  the 
guidance  of  a  deer  to  one  of  their  own  tribe. 


288  EAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

Some  very  unpleasant  ants,  about  an  inch  long, 
also  lived  near  us ;  their  sting  is  very  painful,  and 
their  tenacity  in  sucking  blood,  and  never  letting 
go,  has  gained  for  them  the  name  of  "  bulldogs." 
Their  habits  and  customs  among  themselves  are 
said  to  be  interesting  to  study.  I  confess  I 
preferred  to  give  them  a  wide  berth,  and  the  only 
anxiety  I  displayed  was  to  kill  as  many  as 
possible.  Scorpions,  centipedes,  and  iriantilopes 
also  abounded;  the  latter  is  a  giant  spider,  who 
seemed  to  possess  the  misanthropical  character 
of  his  European  brothers  to  a  great  degree.  His 
sting  is  also  very  painful,  and  one  generally 
avoids  his  advances  to  a  nearer  acquaintance, 
particularly  as  he  possesses  no  great  beauty  to 
attract  one  to  him.  The  sting  of  the  scorpion 
every  one  knows  is  very  agonizing,  but  here  they 
are  not  necessarily  fatal. 

At  night  various  members  of  the  above  insect 
races,  accompanied  by  cousins  and  friends,  would 
crawl,  creep,  or  fly  into  our  tent,  get  upon  us, 
and  proceed  to  inspect  our  anatomy  with  exhaus- 
tive care.  I  discovered  that  by  not  vexing  them, 
i.e.,  flinging  the  arms  about,  and  using  forcible 
language  (to  which  latter  insult  they  appeared 
to  have  a  great  objection),  they  would  not  molest 
us,  but  after  crawling  cautiously  over  any  part  of 
us  that  happened  to  be  uncovered,  would  make 
tracks  elsewhere,  their  curiosity  satisfied,  leaving 
us  secretly  glad  at  their  departure. 

I  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  snakes,  which 


GUM  TREES. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  239 

were  infinite  in  number,  snaky  in  their  habits, 
which  I  suppose  is  not  astonishing,  and  most  of 
them  poisonous.  But  of  these  our  natural  enemies 
I  will  speak  more  fully  when  we  get  to  the  Yarra- 
Yarra  Eiver. 

Here  at  "The  Two  Sisters"  we  lived  a  real 
Bohemian  life  under  the  shade  of  the  great 
Eucalypti.  I  use  the  plural,  as  there  was  a 
great  variety  of  species.  Here,  too,  .are  varieties 
of  pines,  and  I  think  among  them  the  Sequoia 
Grigantia,  that  celebrated  giant  pine  of  California, 
reported  to  be  the  biggest  .  tree  in  the  world. 
This,  however,  is  a  mistake,  for  some  of  the 
Australian  Eucalypti  (gum-trees)  far  exceed  them 
in  height,  and  are  quite  as  large  in  other  respects. 

To  a  "  new  chum"  the  varieties  of  the  gum- 
trees  are  often  a  matter  of  perplexity  and  much 
wonder.  The  red  gum,  whose  wood  never  rots, 
the  white  and  the  blue,  which  latter  is  largely 
planted  in  California  ;  then  there  are  the  pepper- 
mint, the  box,  the  apple,  the  stringy  bark,  the 
iron  bark,  the  bull's  wood,  and  so  on  ad  infinitum. 
These,  like  all  the  Australian  trees  that  I  am 
acquainted  with,  are  evergreens,  of  rather  a  dusky, 
sombre  hue,  and  have  an  aromatic  smell,  which, 
besides  being  very  pleasant,  tends  to  repel  disease, 
and  renders  the  living  among  them  healthy  and 
invigorating.  The  foliage  of  the  Eucalypti,  like 
that  of  the  majority  of  their  compatriots,  is  placed 
vertically.  I  mean  the  edge  of  the  leaf  is  towards 
the  branch  on  which  it  grows,  which  is  occasioned 


240  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

by  a  slight  twist  in  the  petioli;  they  shed  then- 
bark  annually,  and  not  their  leaves,  which  are 
constantly  growing  and  constantly  dropping  off. 

From  the  gum-trees  one  is  led  naturally  to 
speak  of  opossums,  a  genus  of  marsupiate  carni- 
vorous mammals,  as  the  dictionary  tells  us.  Vast 
numbers  surrounded  us ;  they  would  leave  their 
holes  at  night  to  feed  on  leaves,  climbing  the 
trees  for  that  purpose,  and  after  a  while,  wishing 
to  vary  their  repast,  would  descend  to  the  earth 
and  nibble  at  fresh  grass  or  any  other  dainty  herb 
they  could  meet  with.  For  cleverness  in  thieving, 
give  me  an  opossum.  We  found  to  our  cost  that 
they  much  loved  potatoes,  while  bread  put  them 
into  ecstatic  raptures.  I  wonder  where  they  got 
their  taste  for  it,  for  Mrs.  Opossum  can  know 
nothing  of  bread-making.  They  would  walk  into 
our  tent  at  night  cool  and  confident,  seeking  what 
they  might  devour,  and  although  they  generally 
fell  victims  to  their  kleptomaniac  tendencies, 
that  did  not  in  the  least  deter  others  from  trying 
the  same  game,  with  the  same  results. 

We  killed  immense  numbers  of  these  "marsu- 
piate carnivorous  mammals,"  many  by  snares, 
more  by  shooting  them  through  the  head  with  a 
very  small  bullet.  Gilbert  was  extremely  skilful, 
and  never  a  'possum  escaped  his  shot.  We 
would  all  three  of  us  go  out  on  a  moonlight  night, 
for  'possums  are  sentimental,  and  love  to  "pose  " 
by  the  light  of  the  Queen  of  the  Heavens,  and 
station  ourselves  each  one  on  the  shady  side  of 


HARD  LIFE  IN  TSB  COLONIES,  241 

a  large  gum-tree.  Looking  up  through  the 
branches,  we  were  sure  to  see  one  or  more, 
sometimes  a  whole  family  stretched  out,  I  was 
going  to  say  "  sunning  "  themselves  in  the  moon- 
light, for  they  looked  as  though  the  rays  of  the 
moon  were  as  pleasant  to  them  as  the  rays  of 
the  sun  is  to  a  cat.  We  would  then  pick  them 
off  one  by  one  with  a  rifle  ;  down  they  fall  dead, 
and  when  cold  were  skinned,  and  the  skins  dried. 
This  was  done  by  pegging  the  skin  flesh  side 
out,  like  Brian  O'Lynne's  breeches.  These  same 
skins,  when  properly  prepared  and  sewn  together, 
make  very  fine  rugs,  being  both  light  and  warm — 
one  seven  feet  square  weighing  only  five  pounds — 
and  on  that  account  are  invaluable  to  hunters  and 
bushmen.  We  often  got  thirty  skins  in  one  night, 
both  Stuart  and  I  being  fair  shots,  while  Gilbert's 
aim  was  certain  death.  Great  skill  is  requisite  in 
shooting  them,  for  if  wounded  anywhere  except 
in  the  head  the  pelt  is  of  no  value. 

The  fly  ing- squirrel  has  also  a  beautiful  coat 
that  fetches  a  good  price  in  the  fur  market.  We 
got  many  of  them,  shooting  them  as  they  sprang 
from  tree  to  tree.  They  leap  an  amazing  distance, 
being  supported  by  the  skin  stretching  between 
their  fore  and  hind  feet.  I  saw  a  handsome  little 
fellow  one  day  high  up  in  a  gum-tree ;  he  wanted 
to  get  to  another  tree  some  distance  off,  and  was 
evidently  not  quite  sure  whether  he  could  manage 
it.  He  seemed  to  measure  the  distance  with  his 
eye,  ran  to  the  extreme  tip  of  the  branch  he  was 

17 


242  SAED  LIFE  IN  T£E  GOLONIES. 

on,  then  back  again.  Gilbert  and  I  watched  him 
with  interest. 

"I  tell  you  what,"  said  my  friend,  addressing 
the  squirrel,  who  was  undecidedly  scratching  his 
head,  "if  you  jump  that  I  won't  shoot  you,  but  if 
you  funk  it  I  will." 

That  decided  our  little  friend :  giving  us  a  long 
side  glance  from  his  beautiful  sharp  eyes,  he 
swayed  himself  a  moment  to  and  fro,  then  paf! 
in  one  graceful,  mighty  leap  he  shot  across  the 
immense  space  between  the  two  trees,  and  alighted 
safely  on  a  branch.  We  could  not  help  crying 
"  Bravo  !  "  .to  the  brave  little  leaper,  who,  hearing 
us  shout,  disappeared  swiftly  high  up  in  the  tree. 

Skins  of  all  sorts,  and  from  every  kind  of  animal, 
we  prepared  simply  by  drying.  When  we  had 
amassed  a  large  quantity  of  them  Stuart  took 
them  into  Melbourne  to  sell. 

We  wished  him  at  the  same  time  to  see  a  doctor, 
for  he  was  not  at  all  strong,  and  gave  way  to  fits  of 
melancholy  and  irritation  sad  to  see  in  so  young  a 
man.  We  made  him  promise  also  to  see  his  aunt. 
At  this  time  we  knew  nothing  of  his  past  life,  for, 
although  we  had  lived  together  many  months,  he 
had  not  been  communicative  concerning  himself, 
the  freemasonry  of  good  birth  only  drawing  us 
three  together. 

Gilbert  and  I  passed  the  days  of  his  absence  in 
the  usual  way,  killing  many  'possums  and  other 
"varmin,"  and  looking  forward  to  a  nice  round 
sum  of  money  from  the  furrier  at  Melbourne.  But 


'HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  243 

some  ten  days  after  Dane  returned  with  a  much 
smaller  sum  than  we  had  been  led  to  expect,  as 
the  skins  were  all  good  and  properly  prepared. 
We  were  told  afterwards  by  an  old  settler  that 
we  should  have  manufactured  them  into  rugs  our- 
selves, for  which  we  would  have  been  hand- 
somely paid. 

"  Did  you  go  to  your  aunt  ?  "  I  asked,  as,  having 
spoken  of  the  furs,  Stuart  seated  himself  in  the 
corner  of  the  tent,  and  proceeded  to  smoke  in 
gloomy  silence. 

"Yes,"  was  the  encouraging  answer. 

"  Wasn't  she  nice  ?"  demanded  Gilbert ;  "didn't 
you  give  her  those  best  opossum  skins  ?  I  should 
have  thought  they  would  have  softened  the  heart 
of  any  living  woman." 

"  She  was  very  kind  to  me,  and  wishes  me  to  live 
with  her,"  was  the  unexpected  answer. 

"By  Jove!"  cried  Gilbert.  "What  reply  did 
you  give  to  such  an  astonishing  request  ?  " 

"I  said  not  yet,"  answered  Dane,  more  to  him- 
self than  to  us,  as  he  pushed  his  rough  sandy  hair 
back  from  his  brow — a  trick  of  his  when  at  all  per- 
plexed or  annoyed. 

"  Well,  at  any  rate  it's  nice  to  know  that  you 
have  a  place  you  can  go  to  if  you  are  not  strong 
enough  for  bush  life,"  I  said;  when  to  our  surprise 
he  started  to  his  feet  and  cried  passionately,  "  I'm 
as  strong  as  either  of  you,  and  can  bear  bush  life 
better ;  but  if  you  want  to  be  rid  of  me,  I  can  go 
and  camp  alone." 


''244  SARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

"Don't  be  a  fool !  "  said  Gilbert,  before  I  could 
find  my  tongue ;  "  you  had  better  have  supper  and 
go  to  bed ;  there's  nothing  like  a  sleep  to  chase 
away  the  blue  devils.  Did  you  see  a  doctor?  " 

"Yes." 

"Well?" 

"What?" 

"What  did  he  say?  Why  it's  harder  to  drag 
words  out  of  you  than  to  get  gold  out  of  a  gold 
mine,"  said  Gilbert,  impatiently. 

Dane  Stuart  gave  a  short  laugh  as  he  answered, 
"  You  won't  be  much  the  wiser  than  I  am  by  the 
idiot's  opinion.  He  told  me  I  might  live  or  I 
might  die,  and  on  my  suggesting  that  every  one 
was  in  the  same  box,  he  further  added  that  while 
there  was  life  there  was  hope."  Seeing  that 
Stuart  either  could  not  or  would  not  say  anything 
more  on  the  subject  of  himself  and  his  health,  I 
turned  the  conversation,  and  no  further  reference 
was  made  to  him. 

But  I  began  to  observe  him  more  closely,  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  whatever  was  affecting 
him  was  more  mental  than  physical ;  his  fits  of 
irritation  were  followed  by  moods  of  profound 
melancholy,  one  as  trying  to  bear  with  as  the 
other,  and  often  I  had  some  difficulty  in  pre- 
venting hot  disputes  between  him  and  Gilbert,  tbe 
latter  having  a  very  impulsive,  quick  temper. 

Months  went  by,  and  we  shifted  our  camp  some 
miles  further  on,  to  the  banks  of  the  Yarra-Yarra 
Eiver,  in  order  to  take  advantage  of  the  fishing 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  245 

season.  We  pitched  our  tent  on  a  lovely  spot 
under  the  shade  of  our  old  friend  the  Eucatyptus 
tree,  near  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  what  sport 
we  had  !  Old  Isaak  Walton  would  have  been  in  a 
continuous  state  of  rapturous  delight.  I  wonder 
if  he  ever  had  the  chance  of  real  good  fishing, 
such  as  these  majestic  Australian  rivers  give. 

Our  chief  quest  was  for  the  "  black  fish,"  a  most 
delicious  piscatory  tit-bit,  which  always  fetched  a 
high  price  in  the  fish  market,  large  and  small  being 
paid  for  at  the  same  rate  per  pound.  We  used  to 
place  them  in  a  large  box  that  we  had  sunk  in  the 
river,  with  holes  to  admit  the  water,  until  we  had 
captured  enough  to  send  into  the  next  town.  We 
were  getting  on  in  the  world  now,  and  bought  a 
horse  to  carry  our  impedimenta,  for  when  we 
had  fished  out  one  place  we  moved  farther  up  the 
river  to  another  spot. 

A  strange-looking  party  we  were,  not  unpic- 
turesque,  I  take  it.  Our  coloured  shirts  made  a 
bright  spot  among  the  bushes,  and  with  our  rifles, 
high  boots,  and  slouched  hats,  I  flatter  myself  that 
we  should  have  been  looked  at  again  if  we  had 
been  walking  down — Begent  Street,  let  us  say. 
Magog,  our  horse,  must  not  be  forgotten ;  he  was 
a  monster  of  strength  and  ugliness,  but  of  a  gentle 
and  retiring  disposition,  bearing  any  burden  put 
upon  him  with  cheerful  patience  and  meek  sub- 
mission. He  had  one  absorbing  passion — perhaps 
I  ought  to  say  two  absorbing  passions — love  for 
Dorcas,  a  cat,  and  love  of  bread.  In  finding  out 


246  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

where  the  latter  article  was  packed  or  placed  he 
was  nearly  as  clever  as  the  opossums,  perhaps 
even  more  so,  given  his  great  bulk  and  consequent 
difficulty  in  stealing.  It  is  only  fair  to  him  to  state 
that  his  former  master  was  a  baker,  and  he  must 
have  contracted  this  habit  when  in  that  line  of  life. 
Dorcas  was  a  large,  a  very  large,  cat,  grey  with 
black  stripes,  and  had  been  found  when  a  kitten  in 
the  stable  with  Magog.  How  she  came  there  is  not 
known — like  Topsy,  "  'spects  she  growed."  She 
was  no  expense  to  any  one,  catering  for  herself, 
and  being  the  mother  of  sixty-eight  children  to  the 
knowledge  of  Burton,  the  man  we  bought  Magog 
from.  We  never  thought  of  taking  a  cat  into  the 
bush,  nor  did  Burton  wish  to  part  with  her,  for  she 
was  the  best  ratter  for  miles  around ;  but  on  going 
out  to  see  Magog  the  morning  after  our  purchase 
of  him  there  sat  Dorcas  on  his  back,  cleaning  her 
face,  and  evidently  intending  to  remain.  We  were 
afraid  she  would  be  a  dreadful  nuisance,  so  Stuart 
rode  her  back  on  Magog  ;  but  he  might  have  spared 
himself  the  trouble,  for  he  had  not  been  but  four 
miles  on  his  way  back  to  the  camp  before  a 
"mew  "  caused  him  to  turn  round,  and  there  was 
Mrs.  Dorcas  scrambling  up  Magog's  tail,  and, 
seating  herself  on  his  broad  back,  proceeded  to 
clean  herself,  not  condescending  to  notice  Stuart 
in  the  least.  So  we  kept  her — in  fact  we  could  not 
help  ourselves,  and  soon  grew  alarmingly  fond  of  her, 
for  when  one  loves  much  one  suffers  much,  and  we 
were  always  afraid  some  accident  would  happen  tg 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  247 

her,  for  she  always  accompanied  us  on  our  shooting 
expeditions,  and  seemed,  unlike  the  generality  of 
her  sex,  to  love  the  sound  of  a  gun.  No  dog  ever 
was  so  useful  in  bringing  back  the  game.  Often  I 
have  felt  terribly  nervous  when  she  has  sat  with 
her  green  eyes  fixed  upon  me,  for  I  dreaded  her 
contempt  if  I  missed  my  aim.  On  such  occasions 
she  would  calmly  walk  back  to  the  camp,  curl  her- 
self up  on  a  blanket  and  go  to  sleep. 

On  one  of  our  moves  up  the  river  we  came 
upon  a  settler  who  was  building  a  shanty,  and 
intended  to  settle  down  altogether.  We  helped 
him  to  choose  a  .  suitable  spot  and  remained  with 
him  some  ten  days  or  so  to  aid  him.  He  intended 
having  his  wife  and  two  children  out  as  soon  as  he 
was  settled. 

.  One  morning  Gilbert,  Stuart,  and  the  settler  (I 
forget  his  name,  if  I  ever  knew  it,  for  one  uses  the 
terms  "mate"  or  "boss"  with  strangers  generally) 
were  standing  near  an  immense  Eucalyptus  tree, 
when  suddenly  an  awful  thunderstorm  came  on. 
The  noise  was  deafening,  like  a  charge  of  artillery, 
and  the  glare  of  the  lightning,  so  continuous  and 
brilliant,  was  simply  appalling.  I  ran  out  from  the 
tent  to  call  them  in,  when  at  that  moment  a 
thunderbolt  struck  the  tree,  catching  it  on  fire 
and  smashing  it  to  pieces.  Gilbert  and  Stuart 
came  running  in,  how  they  had  escaped  was 
nothing  short  of  a  miracle.  The  settler  was 
killed,  nor  could  we  find  anything  of  him  to  bury 
but  a  very  small  portion  of  calcinated  matter. 


248  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

We  looked  over  his  papers,  and  sent  them  and 
the  money  and  anything  of  value  into  Melbourne 
by  a  man  chancing  to  pass  our  way.  He  under- 
took to  forward  them  to  England  to  the  poor 
widow.  Then  we  moved  our  camp  from  the  half- 
built  house  with  its  sad  association,  and  went 
further  up  the  Yarra-Yarra. 

I  was  one  day  keeping  camp,  Gilbert  and  Stuart 
having  gone  fishing,  and  had  thrown  myself  down 
in  the  tent  door,  mending  some  fishing  tackle,  when, 
looking  up,  I  saw  a  huge  black  snake  deliberately 
coming  along  with  the  evident  intention  of  paying 
me  a  visit. 

"  Come  on,  my  friend,"  said  I,  putting  down  the 
net  and  taking  up  a  large  stick. 

The  brute  eyed  me  stedfastly  with  sparkling 
eyes,  and  came  on  undaunted  and  unafraid.  I 
raised  myself  on  my  elbow,  and  when  he  was 
within  half  a  yard  of  me  I  brought  my  stick  down 
upon  his  head  and  killed  him  on  the  spot.  I  then 
hung  him  up  to  show  the  other  two  when  they 
returned ;  he  was  of  great  length  and  very  thick. 
Dane  had  a  womanish  terror  of  snakes  :  it  was 
useless  to  point  out  to  him  that  they  generally 
avoid  you,  and  if  they  do  not  are  very  easily 
killed;  also  that  their  power  of  springing  and 
throwing  out  their  poison  is  very  limited;  stand 
one  quarter  of  an  inch  beyond  that  short  distance, 
and  they  are  perfectly  harmless.  He  never  saw 
one  without  turning  pale?  and  all  his  nightmares 
had  a  snake  in  them. 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  249 

We  killed  multitudes  of  these  reptiles,  for  the 
bush  abounds  in  them.  The  hideous  and  deadly 
tiger-snake,  banded  with  dirty  black-and-white 
stripes  ;  the  beautiful  carpet-snake,  of  varying 
colours ;  the  death-adder,  whose  bite  is  instantly 
fatal ;  and  a  host  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  down  to 
the  whip-snake,  which  lies  coiled  up  in  the 
branches  of  the  shrubs.  Look  out  as  you  pass 
by,  for  if  they  dart  their  head  out  and  prick  you 
on  the  hand — for  it  is  little  more  than  a  prick — 
you  may  make  your  peace  with  God,  for  death  will 
infallibly  result. 

We  skinned  a  great  many  of  these  reptiles,  and 
kept  them,  as  they  were  not  without  beauty.  They 
are  also  good  eating,  so  I  have  been  told,  and  have 
always  been  content  with  that  knowledge  from  hear- 
say ;  for,  although  I  don't  mind  meeting  the  devil, 
I  decidedly  object  to  eating  him,  and  so  incor- 
porating him  as  it  were  into  myself.  Gilbert  also 
had  no  wish  to  try  the  taste  of  them,  while,  as  to 
Stuart,  I  believe  he  would  have  killed  us  if  we  had 
attempted  to  palm  off  a  snake  on  him  instead  of  a 
dish  of  stewed  eels. 

There  was  another  living  animal,  or  rather 
insect,  that  we  never  tried  to  eat,  though  we  had 
abundance  of  them,  and  I  have  read  somewhere  of 
a  starved  traveller  becoming  fat  and  jolly  on  them 
— the  wattle-grub,  a  grub  as  large  as  a  large  man's 
largest  finger,  nearly  square  in  shape,  of  a  fine 
clean  cream  colour,  very  fat  and  soft,  not  by  any 
means  a  disgusting-looking  thing  if  you  happen  to. 


250  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

admire  that  style  of  thing.  When  roasted  they 
are  remarkably  good,  and  have  a  flavour  of 
almonds — at  least,  so  I  have  been  told ;  for,  as 
I  observed  before,  we  avoided  them,  our  tastes  not 
having  been  educated  up  to  wattle-grubs.  We 
got  them  by  splitting  up  the  bark  of  the  gum-trees 
that  were  somewhat  decayed,  where  they  lived 
and  bred  in  vast  numbers,  thriving  and  fattening 
on  the  gum  that  they  sucked.  We  used  them  for 
bait  when  fishing,  with  great  success,  the  fish 
evidently  looking  upon  them  as  a  rare  tit-bit,  even 
worth  dying  to  get  a  taste  of. 

A  party  of  "  sports  "  met  once  near  Danderong, 
to  enjoy  an  outing  in  the  woods,  and  to  "  do  "  the 
bush  generally.  These  were  Melbourneites,  and 
tolerably  verdant.  It  was  not  often  that  they 
indulged  in  such  wild  extravagance,  so  were 
determined  to  have  a  good  time  of  it,  being  highly 
elated  at  the  prospect  of  slaughtering  "  'possums," 
bears,  bandicoots,  &c.,  and  being  able  afterwards 
to  "swagger"  to  their  less  fortunate  friends  at 
home,  boasting  of  their  wood  craft,  and  detailing 
hairbreadth  escapes  from  the  loving  hug  of  the 
bear,  or  the  poisonous  breath  of  the  snake. 

Among  them  was  a  young  man  who  had  never 
been  in  the  bush  before,  and  would  neither  know  a 
bear  nor  a  snake  if  he  saw  one.  On  the  strength  of 
this,  he  took  upon  himself  to  act  as  cicerone  and 
general  adviser  to  the  rest  of  the  "  greenies." 
Hiding  from  them  the  fact  that  his  knowledge  of 
}}ush  life  was  the  result  of  very  cursory  reading  of 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  251 

some  traveller's  experience,  he  depicted  himself 
as  an  old  experienced  hand,  whom  nothing  could 
astonish,  still  less  alarm.  The  others,  quite  as 
ignorant  but  -more  modest,  gave  in  readily  to  their 
self-elected  leader,  and  followed  him  with  all  the 
gravity  and  want  of  sense  peculiar  to  a  flock  of 
geese. 

A  gentleman,  an  old  settler,  came  upon  the 
party,  and  joining  them  in  the  free  and  easy  way 
of  bush  life,  took  the  measure  of  the  bumptious 
greenhorn  in  a  moment,  and  determined  to  have 
some  fun  at  his  expense.  He  secretly  procured 
some  of  these  nice  large  cream-coloured  grubs, 
which  he  concealed  in  his  pocket ;  then,  returning 
to  the  party,  he  entered  into  a  lively  conversation 
with  the  "  cicerone,"  agreeing  to  all  the  bombastic 
nonsense  he  talked,  pretending  to  believe  all  the 
impossible  stories  of  adventures  of  which  he  had 
been  the  hero,  and  otherwise  flattering  him  up, 
until,  like  the  frog  in  the  fable,  he  was  ready  to 
burst  with  pride,  or  rather  self-conceit.  Every 
now  and  then,  during  the  talk,  the  gentleman 
made  a  pretence  of  turning  his  head  aside,  of 
slipping  something  into  his  mouth,  and  munching 
it  with  infinite  relish.  The  other's  curiosity  was 
much  excited  ;  he  watched  his  flatterer  more 
closely,  and  seeing  a  large,  soft,  creamy-looking 
substance  apparently  being  popped  into  his  mouth, 
said,  "  May  I  be  allowed  to  ask  what  it  is  you  are 
eating?" 

t!"  exclaimed  the  settler?  with  uplifte4 


252  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

eyebrows,  "  do  you,  an  old  experienced  bushman, 
not  know  the  celebrated  and  delicious  wattle-grub, 
that  greatest  delicacy  in  the  bush  ?  " 

On  hearing  this  the  rest  of  the  party  gathered 
round  the  two  with  eyes,  mouths,  and  ears  wide 
open. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  know  it  well,"  cried  cicerone, 
quickly.  "I  didn't  see  distinctly,  many  a  hun- 
dred I've  eaten,  and  enjoyed  above  all  things ; 
they  are  indeed  a  real  luxury." 

"  Have  some,"  said  the  wily  one.  "  I  can  spare 
you  a  few;  here's  a  nice  one,"  handing  him  one 
nearly  as  big  as  a  sausage." 

The  poor  wretch  took  it,  and  with  a  tremendous 
effort  put  the  smaller  end  of  the  soft  fat  live  thing 
into  his  mouth,  when,  faugh !  he  was  seized  with 
an  internal  earthquake,  and  he  nearly  fainted. 
The  whole  starch  was  taken  out  of  him ;  he 
completely  collapsed,  and  was  mute,  crestfallen, 
and  wretched  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 

The  settler,  after  seeing  the  salutary  effect  of 
his  lesson,  cheerfully  wished  the  party  good-day, 
and  returned  to  his  shanty  with  another  good  story 
to  add  to  his  list. 

Another  shifting  of  our  camp  brought  us  further 
up  the  river,  near  a  bend  of  which  we  pitched  our 
tent,  after  having  ascertained  that  the  spot  met 
with  Dorcas's  approval.  She  was,  like  all  her  sex, 
very  capricious,  and  if  we  were  luckless  enough  to 
settle  down  anywhere  that  did  not  please  her,  she 
would  render  night  hideous  and  sleep  impossible 


1SAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  25& 

by  her  yowls.  Her  great  objection  seemed  to  be 
the  close  proximity  to  large  trees,  whether  from 
some  recollection  of  the  terrible  thunderstorm  we 
had  passed  through  I  cannot  tell,  for  she  kept 
these  things  secret  in  that  "  dark  place  where  cats 
keep  their  thoughts." 

The  Yarra-Yarra  is  of  all  the  rivers  I  have  ever 
seen  the  most  extraordinary.  It  winds  about  in 
every  possible  and  impossible  direction.  One 
mile,  as  the  crow  flies,  makes  many  miles  of  the 
stream,  along  the  banks  of  which  are  numerous 
lagoons,  the  habitat  of  all  sorts  of  water-fowl, 
notably  among  them  that  gigantic  crane,  the 
"  Native  Companion,"  a  solemn  and  stately- 
looking  bird,  who  always  reminded  me  of  one 
of  the  proverbs  of  the  Sheviri,  "  The  crane  stands 
upon  one  leg,  in  heavenly  meditation,  but  all  the 
while  is  looking  sharply  after  his  fish."  Also  the 
small  and  handsome  "Nankeen  crane,"  so  called 
from  its  colour,  such  a  knowing-looking  little 
fellow,  and  so  very  beautiful.  The  diminutive 
flying  squirrel,  called  "  Turan "  by  the  natives, 
were  very  numerous  here,  lovely  little  animals,  and 
easy  to  tame.  Stuart  kept  a  baby  one,  whose 
mother  he  had  shot,  for  some  little  time,  but 
Dorcas  eyed  the  wee  thing  with  such  jealousy, 
and  evidently  had  such  difficulty  in  keeping  her 
claws  from  it,  that  he  thought  it  better  to  separate 
the  two.  At  first  he  intended  to  set  it  at  liberty, 
but  when  he  put  it  up  a  tree  the  little  thing 
sprang  on  to  his  shoulder  and  would  not  leave 


254  HARD  LIFB  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

him.  Luckily  for  "  Dot,"  just  as  we  were  going 
to  move  on,  a  settler  asked  Dane  to  stay  with  him 
a  while  to  help  him  fence  his  shanty  around.  So 
Gilbert  and  I,  Magog  and  Dorcas  started  off, 
leaving  him  to  follow  us  when  the  fencing  was 
finished.  Bears,  opossums,  bandicoots,  &c.,  were 
very  plentiful — in  fact  game  of  all  sorts ;  but,  being 
summer,  their  fur  was  of  no  use  to  us,  being  too 
thin  and  faded  at  that  season  to  fetch  any  price  in 
the  market.  So  we  only  killed  what  we  needed 
for  food,  such  as  deer,  of  which  there  were  a  large 
number,  the  bandicoot,  and  wild  fowl. 

We  continued  our  fishing  with  great  success, 
for  we  got  well  paid,  and  began  to  put  by  money 
towards  buying  a  ranche,  which  was  the  ultimate 
aim  of  all  our  toil  and  all  our  hopes.  One  day  we 
discovered  a  "  bee-tree,"  a  huge  gum-tree,  in 
which  a  swarm  of  bees  had  taken  up  their  abode 
— a  very  valuable  find,  as  sometimes  there  are 
several  hundredweight  of  honeycomb.  The  diffi- 
culty was  to  get  at  it,  the  only  possible  way  being 
to  cut  down  the  tree,  and  as  this  one  measured  at 
least  five  feet  in  diameter,  and  was  of  great  height, 
it  was  no  small  undertaking  for  two  men.  Nothing 
daunted,  however,  we  set  to  work,  Gilbert  being  a 
very  good  hand  at  wielding  the  axe,  while  I,  on 
the  contrary,  can  hardly  use  it.  We  worked  away 
many  hours,  and  succeeded  in  cutting  a  pretty 
deep  gash  on  one  side,  when,  night  coming  on,  we 
had  to  adjourn  till  next  day.  Dorcas,  who  always 
accompanied  us  on  our  fishing  expeditions,  finding 


BA&D  LIFti  IN  fBE  COLONIES.  255 

that  we  stayed  all  day  by  the  side  of  her  bete  noir, 
a  tree,  had  left  us  in  disgust,  and,  we  concluded, 
had  returned  to  the  tent  to  sleep  off  her  vexation 
after  her  usual  manner.  On  returning,  however, 
no  Dorcas  was  to  be  seen.  Feeling  very  uneasy,  we 
went  out  and  called  her  loudly.  A  faint  "  mew  " 
answered  us,  and  in  a  few  minutes  Dorcas  ap- 
peared, bleeding  and  wounded  in  many  places. 
She  manifested  such  an  evident  desire  to  show 
us  something  that  we  followed  her  before  attend- 
ing to  her  wounds.  She  led  us  to  some  little 
distance,  and  there  lying  side  by  side,  dead,  were 
seven  enormous  rats.  Her  pride  was  immense ; 
she  limped  all  round  them,  purring  and  rubbing 
against  us,  as  much  as  to  say,  "You  have  killed 
nothing  all  day,  but  see  what  I  have  done." 
That  the  victory  had  been  hardly  won  her  nume- 
rous wounds  plainly  testified.  We  carried  them 
back  to  the  tent,  took  care  of  her,  and  she  soon 
purred  herself  to  sleep  in  the  midst  of  her  slain. 

The  next  morning  Gilbert  was  obliged  to  row 
down  the  river  to  Lilly  dale  with  a  "  swag  "  of  fish, 
and  I  made  some  feeble  efforts  to  enlarge  the  gash 
we  had  made  the  day  before  in  the  "  bee-tree." 
While  thus  engaged,  a  party  of  "  bee-hunters  " 
came  along,  eyed  me  a  moment  in  silence,  then 
one  said — 

"  Honey  there,  mate?" 

I  nodded. 

"  You  here  alone?" 

I  nodded  again ^ 


256  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

At  a  sign  from  him  the  others  threw  down  some 
bags  and  ropes  they  had,  and  drew  their  axes, 
while  the  man  that  had  spoken  before  turned 
to  me  and  said,  "  We  will  save  you  the  trouble 
of  cutting  that  tree  down.  You  will  never  do  it 
alone." 

"  My  mate  will  be  back  to-night,"  I  answered. 
"We  found  the  tree,  and  therefore  it  is  ours. 
Kindly  go  on  your  way." 

The  fellow  laughed  aloud,  and  simply  called  up 
two  more  men  who  were  behind  with  a  couple  of 
horses,  carrying  buckets  and  kegs  for  honey.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  five  of  them  were  working  away 
vigorously  with  their  axes,  making  the  chips  fly  in 
every  direction.  I  said  no  more,  what  was  the 
good  ?  In  this  case  of  might  against  right,  who 
was  likely  to  win  ?  So  I  lit  a  pipe,  leant  against  a 
neighbouring  tree,  and  watched  them. 

All  day  long  they  worked  in  a  blazing  sun, 
stopping  only  at  midday  for  some  food,  to  which 
they  politely  invited  me,  and  I  as  politely  de- 
clined. 

Early  in  the  evening  Gilbert  came  back,  and 
was  furious  at  the  sight  that  met  his  gaze — the 
"  bee-tree,"  his  "  bee-tree,"  nearly  cut  through  by 
a  band  of  robbers,  who  had  come  provided  with 
every  convenience  to  carry  off  their  ill-gotten 
gains.  But  his  righteous  indignation  was  of  no 
avail  ;  the  kegs  and  buckets  were  placed  in 
readiness,  and  shortly  the  'mighty  giant  of  the 
forest  fell  with  a  crash  like  thunder,  and  lay 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  257 

quivering  on  the  ground.  The  men  rushed  for- 
ward to  cut  out  the  honey,  when,  to  their  infinite 
disgust,  they  found  hardly  a  single  pound,  the  bees 
having  only  commenced  their  settlement. 

The  disappointment  was  great.  After  all  their 
toil  under  a  burning  sun ;  after  playing  a  shabby 
trick,  too,  to  get — nothing.  The  language  that 
ensued  was  more  forcible  than  polite.  I  confess  I 
was  Christian  enough  to  feel  savagely  glad  at  their 
discomfiture.  "  I  wish  you  good  evening,"  I  re- 
marked, as  they  began  re-loading  their  horses 
with  the  empty  kegs,  "  and  may  the  same  good 
fortune  attend  you  the  next  time  you  attempt  such 
a  scurvy  trick." 

A  fierce  growl  was  the  only  reply,  and  Gilbert 
and  I  returned  to  our  camp,  and  had  supper,  feeling 
quite  a  glow  of  virtuous  satisfaction  at  this  un- 
expected example  of  "  grab  "  and  its  reward. 

For  the  first  time  since  we  had  lived  in  the  bush 
we  came  across  some  of  the  aborigines,  or  rather, 
they  came  across  us,  a  party  of  them  passing  our 
camp.  Some  one  or  two  were  rather  handsome, 
but  for  the  most  part  they  were  frightfully  ugly  and 
intensely  black,  the  women  seemingly  having  an 
extra  dark  tint. 


"God's  image  carved  in  ebony," 


says  some  one. 


"  I  hope  some  day  she  may  become  one, 
The  present  image  is  a  very  rum  one," 
18 


258  HAPD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

as  Brinston  Sfceevens  says.  The  men  call  their 
wives  "  gyns."  Strange  how  closely  allied  to  the 
ancient  Greek  word  71^77,  which,  written  in  Roman 
characters,  would  be  Gyne. 

I  did  not  hear  them  speak,  for  they  went  by  in 
solemn  silence,  so  cannot  say  what  their  language 
is  like,  but  if  the  formation  of  the  mouth  has  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  enunciation  of  a  language, 
theirs  must  be  something  truly  extraordinary. 
They  are  very  good  shots,  ride  half  broken-in 
horses  fearlessly  and  well,  are  exceedingly  expert 
in  the  use  of  their  wooden  missile,  the  boomerang, 
and  throw  a  spear  a  long  distance  with  unerring 
and  fatal  aim.  Altogether  they  are  gentry  one 
would  rather  read  about  than  meet,  and  we  were 
not  sorry  that  they  passed  us  by  without  even 
condescending  to  betray  by  a  glance  that  they 
were  aware  of  our  presence.  If  they  consider 
themselves  handsome,  what  frightful  monsters  must 
we  "  whites  "  appear  in  their  eyes  ! 

Gilbert  shot  some  of  those  strange  animals,  the 
Platypus,  or  Arnothoryneus,  feet  webbed  like  those 
of  a  duck,  the  broad  bill  of  ditto,  and  a  tail  like 
that  of  a  beaver;  their  fur  is  soft  and  close  and 
very  valuable.  Porcas  was  much  perturbed  in 
mind  on  first  seeing  this  animal,  and  walked  around 
it  and  on  it,  touching  up  its  head  and  tail  with  her 
paw,  spitting  and,  I  fear,  swearing  badly  at  the 
poor  dead  Platypus. 

At  this  time  Gilbert  got  one  of  his  sudden 
illnesses,  to  which  he  had  been  subject  since  the 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  259 

second  bayonet  wound  he  had  received  from  the 
drunken  soldier  in  Auckland.  Whether  he  had 
neglected  to  put  on  his  hat  when  in  the  burning 
sun,  or  had  overworked  himself,  I  cannot  tell,  but 
he  came  in  one  evening  complaining  of  headache, 
and  before  morning  was  delirious.  Luckily  I  knew 
what  to  do  and  had  the  remedies  at  hand,  but 
it  was  a  week  before  he  could  venture  to  face  the 
sun  again ;  and  I  had  a  great  fright,  fearing  a 
relapse,  on  account  of  an  unfortunate  incident 
that  happened  directly  after  his  recovery. 

It  was  one  cool  evening,  the  day  after  he  had 
been  out  for  the  first  time  since  his  illness,  and  he 
thought  he  would  like  to  do  a  little  fishing.  So 
we  got  into  our  small  flat-bottomed  canoe,  having 
left  Dorcas  and  Magog  in  charge  of  the  tent,  for  I 
would  not  let  Gilbert  go  alone,  fearing  he  would 
commit  some  imprudence.  As  after  events  turned 
out,  all  my  precautions  were  useless — I  had  counted 
without  Dame  Nature.  Well,  we  rowed  some  dis- 
tance up  the  river,  intending  to  have  a  pleasant 
night's  fishing  for  "  black  fish  "  and  eels.  We  had 
provided  ourselves  with  a  lantern  and  candles,  and 
anticipated  some  good  sport.  Not  without  some 
difficulty  we  piloted  our  canoe  safely  past  snaps  and 
large  pieces  of  broken  timber  with  which  the  stream 
is  much  encumbered,  until  we  reached  a  favour- 
able place  :  here  we  fastened  our  craft  securely  and 
proceeded  to  fish.  We  were  repaid  for  our  toil  up 
by  catching  a  fair  amount  of  the  much-demanded 
"black  fish,"  and  a  large  quantity  of  long,  slimy 


260  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

eels;    not  but  what  the  " black  fish"  is  just  as 
viscous  as  the  eel,  and  the  latter  when-well  cooked 
are  almost  as  good  to  eat.     The  Yarra-Yarra  eels 
are  devoid  of  that  oily  and  objectionable  rancidity 
peculiar  to  the  eels  of  the  Old  Country,  which  so 
disagreeably    affect    delicate    digestions.      Night, 
which  falls  quite  suddenly  in  Australia,  caused  us 
to   light   a   candle,   and   so   engaged  were  we  in 
hooking  and  landing  our  victims  that  we  failed  to 
perceive  that  the  sky  was  black  with  clouds,  our 
first  intimation  being  a  downpour  of  rain,  which  at 
once  put  an  end  to  our  sport   and  drenched  us 
within  three  minutes.     Here  was  a  nice  state  of 
things,  lashing  rain,  and  so  pitch  dark  that  we 
could  not  venture  to  return  down  the  river  because 
of  the  mass  of  broken  timber  floating  about,  nor 
could  we  seek  shelter  on  shore  for  the  same  reason, 
the  light  of  our  lantern  being  insufficient  to  show 
us  a  landing-place,  and,  worst  misfortune  of  all,  no 
wraps,   and   Gilbert   only  just   recovered  from   a 
serious  illness.     There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 
possess  our  souls   in  patience ;    so  there  we  sat, 
Gilbert  in  one  end  of  the  canoe,  and  I  in  the  other, 
through  all  the  hours  of  the  long  black  night,  as 
wet  as  the  fearful  torrents  of  rain  could  make  us, 
keeping   up    a   fitful    conversation    on   the  most 
lugubrious  topics  possible,  until  daylight,  forcing 
its  way  through  the  gloom,  allowed  us,  or  what  was 
left  of  us,  to  return  to  our  camp. 

How  glad  we  were  to  get  into  dry  things,  drink 
some  hot  grog,  and  lie  down  for  a  few  hours'  sleep  ! 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  261 

Much  to  my  astonishment  Gilbert  was  none  the 
worse  for  his  wetting.  Such  an  incident  is  one  of 
the  amenities  of  bush  life ;  but  unpleasant  though 
it  undoubtedly  is  at  the  time,  is  seldom  followed 
by  any  bad  consequences,  that  part  of  Australia 
enjoying  so  healthy  a  climate. 

The  aborigines  think  a  few  branches  thrown 
against  a  tree,  with  a  good  fire  in  front,  a  com- 
fortable shelter,  and  wish  for  nothing  more ;  they 
call  it  a  "  Miomi." 

After  a  good  many  such  trivial  adventures  we 
found  that  we  had  fished  that  part  of  the 
river  very  thoroughly ;  and  not  caring  to  go 
further  up  without  Stuart,  resolved  to  return  to 
our  old  camping-ground  and  pick  him  up  before 
seeking  pastures  new.  So  we  struck  our  tent, 
packed  all  our  belongings  on  Magog,  and  marched 
slowly  along,  carrying  Dorcas  by  turns,  her  lady- 
ship for  some  reason  or  other  refusing  either  to 
walk  or  to  mount  on  the  back  of  her  friend  Magog. 

"  Oh,  hang  it  all !  "  cried  Gilbert  at  last,  putting 
down  Dorcas  and  wiping  his  heated  face,  "  I  think 
you  might  walk  a  bit  now." 

Dorcas  thought  otherwise,  and  seating  herself 
on  the  grass,  began  slowly  to  clean  her  face,  while, 
hot  and  perplexed,  we  held  a  hasty  consultation  as 
to  what  was  best  to  do.  Her  mind  was  made  up, 
and  we  poor,  weak  mortals  might  fuss  and  worry  as 
much  as  we  liked,  that  in  no  ways  affected  her 
equanimity ;  she  knew  she  would  get  her  own  way, 
so  was  content  to  bide  a  wee.  On  our  road  we 


262  BAilD  LI&E  IN  TtiE  COLONIES. 


had  shot  several  birds  and  some  bandicoots,  which 
we  were  obliged  to  carry  ourselves,  as  even  Magog's 
powers  of  endurance  were  taxed  by  the  heavy  tent, 
canoe,  and  all  the  fishing  paraphernalia  that  he 
had  on  his  back. 

So  we  rested  a  short  time  under  the  shade  of  a 
Eucalyptus  tree,  and  then  by  bribing  Magog  with 
slices  of  bread,  got  him  to  carry  our  game  and  rifles. 
Dorcas  watched  the  preparations  with  unblinking 
eyes,  showing  no  shame  at  her  good  friend  being 
so  loaded  to  please  a  whim  of  hers. 

"  Come  along,  old  woman,  I'll  carry  you,"  I  said, 
when  all  was  ready.  But  without  condescending 
to  notice  me,  she  sprang  into  Gilbert's  arms  and 
began  purring  and  rubbing  herself  against  his  face 
in  the  most  coquettish  and  irresistible  manner 
possible.  Of  course  he  liked  it,  and  of  course  he 
carried  her,  while  I  walked  along  feeling  rather 
left  out  in  the  cold,  but  pretending  I  did  not  care, 
which  pretence  I  am  convinced  deceived  neither 
Gilbert  nor  Mrs.  Dorcas. 

In  due]  time  we  regained  our  former  camp,  and 
found  Stuart  heartily  glad  to  see  us  again.  The 
fencing  was  nearly  finished,  and  we  agreed  to  stay 
there  a  few  days  to  complete  the  work,  and  we  also 
wished  to  make  inquiries  about  buying  some  land, 
for  we  had  put  aside  a  fair  sum  of  money  for  that 
purpose,  and  Gilbert  had  come  into  a  little  on  the 
death  of  a  relative. 

Mr.  Lydgar,  the  settler,  whose  ranche  we  were 
all  assisting  in  fencing  around,  was  the  son  of  the 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  2G3 

State  surveyor,  a  singularly  handsome  young  man. 
Having  led  too  gay  a  life,  his  father  had  sent  him 
to  the  bush  to  cool  his  ardour,  and  restore  his 
health,  somewhat  impaired  by  late  hours  and  fast 
living. 

He  told  Gilbert  that  he  had  some  land  he  would 
sell  him  situated  in  Gipp's  Land,  near  the  Tarwin 
Eiver,  a  wild  and  almost  uninhabited  country,  but 
exceedingly  fertile  and  with  unlimited  fishing.  The 
climate  of  that  part  is  well  known  to  be  the  most 
salubrious  of  that  portion  of  Australia, 

You  may  be  sure  that  we  made  many  and  minute 
inquiries  before  Gilbert  closed  with  the  bargain,  and 
became  proprietor  of  some  thirty-five  acres  of  land, 
a  large  vineyard  occupying  ten  acres  of  it,  a  small 
shanty  ready  built,  and  a  fine  orchard.  The  river 
Tarwin  ran  past  the  ranche,  and  a  steamer  passed 
occasionally,  which  would  take  our  fruit,  fish,  &c., 
to  the  near  towns  to  sell. 

Pending  all  these  arrangements,  we  remained 
near  Mr.  Lydgar,  leading  our  ordinary  lives  of  fish- 
ing and  shooting.  Stuart  camped  with  us  again, 
and  out  of  deference  to  Dorcas's  dislike  to,  or 
perhaps  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say,  too  great 
a  liking  for,  "  Dots,"  he  had  given  his  pet  to  Mr. 
Lydgar,  who  was  very  fond  of  it.  Dane  had 
seemed  much  more  cheerful  at  first,  and  appeared 
really  glad  to  see  us  again,  but  Gilbert's  talk  of 
buying  a  ranche  irritated  and  depressed  him, 
though  he  would  give  no  reason  for  it,  and, 
indeed,  denied  that  the  proposed  change  had  any- 


264  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

thing  to  do  with  his  state  of  mind.  Gilbert  and  I 
took  it  as  a  matter  of  course  that  he  would  come 
with  us,  and  always  consulted  him  before  deciding 
any  point  with  reference  to  our  move. 

One  Sunday  evening  I  was  walking  along  the 
bank  of  a  lagoon,  quietly  smoking  a  pipe  and  think- 
ing and  pondering  over  many  things,  when  I  saw 
the  figure  of  a  man  coming  along  swiftly  and 
silently,  looking  back  every  now  and  then  as 
though  he  feared  being  watched.  I  drew  farther 
back  under  the  shelter  of  the  large  tree  against 
which  I  had  been  leaning,  and  attentively  observed 
Dane,  for  it  was  he. 

On  he  came,  in  the  same  swift,  silent  manner, 
until  he  reached  the  edge  of  the  lagoon,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  where  I  was.  He  went  so  close  to 
the  water  that  his  boots  were  covered ;  he  hesitated, 
looked  at  the  gloomy,  dark  swamp,  seemed  un- 
decided, then,  retracing  his  steps,  went  a  little 
further  on,  where  there  was  a  sort  of  small  beach. 
Here  he  began  rapidly  filling  his  pockets  with  the 
largest  pebbles  he  could  find.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  as  to  his  intention. 

"  What  are  you  doing,  Dane  ?  "  I  cried,  sharply, 
emerging  from  behind  my  tree. 

He  started ;  then,  unaware  that  I  had  been  watch- 
ing him,  said,  "  I  thought  I  would  have  a  bathe." 

"What,  here?" 

"  Yes,  here  if  I  choose,"  he  cried,  hotly  ;  "  I  wish 
you  would  go  away,  I  hate  to  be  spied  upon  and 
followed." 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  265 

"  I  was  here  before  you,"  I  said,  quietly. 

He  started  again,  opened  his  mouth  as  if  about 
to  speak,  changed  his  mind,  and  remained  silent 
with  the  colour  coming  and  going  in  his  cheeks. 

"  When  a  man,  who  can't  swim  a  stroke,  prepares 
to  go  into  the  water  with  his  pockets  weighed  down 
with  stones,  it  can  be  but  for  one  purpose — to  end 
his  life.  What  the  sorrow  or  sin  is  that  has  tempted 
you  to  such  an  act  I  do  not  know,  nor  do  I  wish  to 
force  your  confidence,  but  believe  me,  nothing, 
absolutely  nothing,  can  justify  a  man  taking  his 
own  life." 

"I  don't  agree  with  you,"  he  muttered,  "you 
don't  know.  In  some  cases  it  is  the  only  course 
possible.  We  are  told  in  the  Four  Gospels  that 
Judas  Iscariot  hanged  himself,  but  in  neither  that 
he  was  wrong  in  so  doing  ;  the  act  is  passed  without 
comment.  Yes,  I  was  going  to  end  a  life  that  has 
long  been  unbearable  to  me.  Why  did  you  prevent 
me  ?  "  And  he  turned  such  a  look  of  reproachful 
misery  on  me  that  my  heart  ached  for  him. 

"  Can  you  not  tell  me  what  the  trouble  is  ?  "  I 
asked.  "  Force  yourself  to  speak  of  it ;  I  assure  you 
it  will  help  you,  if  only  a  little.  Come,  I  am  old 
enough  to  be  your  father." 

"  I  cannot  speak  of  it." 

"  Does  your  aunt  know?  "  I  asked,  struck  by  a 
sudden  thought. 

"Yes." 

I  felt  greatly  relieved,  for  if  she  knew  of  it,  and 
still  wished  her  nephew  to  live  with  her,  it  could 


366  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

not  be,  as  I  had  feared,  some  crime  that  he  had 
committed  himself. 

"  I  will  only  ask  you  one  more  question,"  I  said. 
"  Does  your  aunt  think  you  have  cause  for  thus 
despairing  ?  " 

"No." 

"  Yet  she  knows  all  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes." 

"  Then  come,  Dane,  be  a  man.  Every  one  has 
trouble,  some  more,  some  less,  but  no  one  escapes. 
If  you  can  do  nothing  in  this  matter  to  better  it  or 
prevent  it,  do  not  at  least  add  worse  to  what  is  bad. 
Promise  rne  you  won't  attempt  it  again." 

He  hesitated  a'moment,  and  then  said,  "  If  you 
will  promise  to  keep  this  to  yourself.  One  day  I 
will  tell  you  all,  and  you  will  understand  then  what 
now  seems  to  you  so  strange." 

Poor  Dane !  when  afterwards  I  did  know,  his  life 
was  ended.  It  is  in  looking  at  lives  like  his  that 
one  fails  utterly  to  comprehend  the  mysteries  of 
sorrow,  sin,  and  death. 

I  will  relate  his  story  in  its  place.  For  the 
present  it  is  enough  to  say,  that  having  given  me 
his  promise  not  to  attempt  his  life  again,  we  said 
no  more  on  the  subject,  but  talked  of  hunting  and 
fishing  as  though  nothing  more  serious  had  occupied 
our  minds  so  short  a  time  before. 

The  next  day  he  and  Gilbert  went  into  Melbourne 
to  settle  the  business  of  buying  the  ranche. 
Without  telling  my  friend  anything  of  yesterday's 
scene,  I  gave  him  a  hint  to  be  forbearing,  even  if 


HAttl)  LlFE  IN  THE  COLONIES*  26? 

Bane  proved  extra  irritable.  Gilbert  laughingly 
promised  to  take  care  of  my  sandy-haired  baby, 
and  give  in  to  his  every  whim ;  which  promise  he 
faithfully  carried  out. 

I,  seizing  upon  the  fact  of  my  being  alone  as  a 
reason  for  a  holiday,  left  our  tent  with  Magog  and 
Dorcas  under  Mr.  Lydgar's  care,  and  placing 
sufficient  food  for  a  day  in  my  wallet,  took  my  rifle 
and  started  off  on  an  expedition  which  had  for  some 
days  been  my  great  ambition  to  undertake. 

About  half-way  between  Lilly  dale  and  where  we 
had  encamped  ourselves,  lay  to  the  right  a  tiny 
village  or  settlement,  chiefly  inhabited  by  charcoal- 
burners,  a  harmless,  quiet  set  of  people.  Kumours 
had  lately  got  about  that  one  of  these  charcoal- 
burners — Fisher  by  name — claimed  to  be  the 
Saviour.  Various  cures,  miraculous,  of  course, 
had  been  performed  by  him.  His  preaching  was 
pronounced  wonderful,  and  his  followers  numbered 
not  a  few,  considering  the  sparse  population  for 
miles  around.  A  settler  passing  our  camp  a  few 
days  before,  had  told  us  about  this  man  Fisher, 
and  said  he  was  to  be  seen  and  heard  in  a  little  hut 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  charcoal  settlement,  where 
he  carried  on  his  work  as  charcoal-burner  when 
not  preaching.  My  curiosity  was  aroused,  and  I 
much  wished  to  see  a  man  who  not  only  could  dare 
to  claim  to  be  the  Christ,  but  could  get  people  to 
believe  that  he  was  so.  For  ignorant  as  bushmen 
and  settlers  of  all  sorts  often  are,  it  is  well  known 
that  the  life  so  much  alone  with  Nature  brings 


268  BAEb  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

Nature's  God  nearer  to  them,  and  makes  them  far 
more  religious  than  they  would  be  had  their  lives 
been  spent  in  the  towns. 

I  was  not  above  two  hours  reaching  the  tiny 
settlement.  It  seemed  deserted;  I  walked  past 
several  shanties  and  down  a  steep  incline,  at  the 
foot  of  which  I  perceived  a  small  group  surrounding 
a  figure  taller  than  the  rest. 

"  I'm  in  luck,"  thought  I,  "  Fisher  is  preaching." 
I  quietly  approached  the  little  band,  keeping,  how- 
ever, at  a  certain  distance,  from  whence  I  could 
both  see  and  hear  distinctly. 

Fisher,  a  tall  man  with  a  long  beard,  and  hair 
falling  over  his  shoulders,  wTas  clothed  in  a  blanket, 
worn  not  ungracefully.  His  eyes  flashed  out  from 
his  thin,  white  face  with  the  glare  of  madness  in 
them.  His  preaching  consisted  of  a  string  of  texts 
from  the  Gospels,  and  an  exhortation  to  repent  and 
believe  in  him  as  the  Christ.  As  he  went  on  he 
became  incoherent,  and  finally  subsided  into  mere 
mutterings  at  intervals.  His  listeners  remained 
respectfully  silent  and  quiet  until  Fisher  suddenly 
diving  into  his  hovel,  they  quietly  dispersed.  I 
entered  into  conversation  with  one  of  them,  who 
said,  I  remember,  among  other  things,  "I  don't 
mean  to  say  he's  the  Christ,  but  he  tells  the  words 
of  Christ,  and  I  likes  to  hear  them."  So  I  suppose 
the  poor  half-witted  creature  did  some  good. 

I  returned  to  my  camp  and  found  some  settlers 
with  Mr.  Lydgar,  who,  on  hearing  where  I  had 
been,  expressed  a  wish  also  to  hear  the  prophet. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  269 

They  went  the  next  day,  but  Fisher  had  disappeared, 
I  heard  after  that  he  went  to  Melbourne,  proclaim- 
ing himself  as  the  Messiah.  There  some  believed 
in  him — if  such  a  thing  can  be  credited — but  the 
"larrykins"  of  Melbourne  (colonial  name  for 
roughs)  were  too  many  for  him,  and  squashed  the 
Messiahship  out  of  him  by  having  a  street  brawl, 
in  which  Fisher  lost  his  life.  Whether  the  man 
was  a  knave  or  a  madman  is  not  known.  From 
the  little  I  saw  of  him  I  am  inclined  to  believe  he 
was  mad. 

Gilbert  and  Dane,  when  they  returned  from  the 
city,  brought  with  them  a  waggon  and  a  team  of 
horses ;  so  I  knew  before  we  were  within  speaking 
distance  that  the  deed  was  done,  the  papers  signed, 
and  the  property  bought.  In  the  work  and  excite- 
ment that  necessarily  followed  I  was  glad  to  see 
that  Dane  was  much  brighter,  and  threw  himself 
into  the  spirit  of  the  thing  with  real  pleasure.  He 
and  Gilbert  were  more  friendly,  and  appeared  to 
work  and  talk  together  with  a  feeling  of  true  good 
fellowship. 

At  Melbourne  we  bought  all  the  necessaries  for 
our  new  life,  sending  on  the  heavy  baggage,  such 
as  a  plough,  other  implements  of  husbandry, 
utensils  for  house,  and  so  on,  by  a  cutter  which 
went  to  the  Tarwin  River.  Dane  undertook  to  go 
with  them,  and  it  was  wiser  so,  as  we  were  told  we 
had  probably  a  journey  of  no  little  toil  and  difficulty 
before  us,  and  his  health  was  none  of  the  strongest. 
So  we  saw  him  off,  and  at  the  last  moment  decided 


270  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

that  Dorcas  had  better  go  with  him  also.  Luckily 
she  made  no  great  objection,  though  the  sailors  did 
at  first. 

Dane  told  us  afterwards  that  it  was  wonderful 
the  way  she  walked  all  over  the  cutter,  inspected 
every  part,  and  catching  a  rat  in  the  hold,  killed  it 
and  brought  it  up  on  deck,  returning  for  more. 
She  won  the  hearts  of  all  on  board,  and  when  Dane 
reached  the  Tarwin  he  was  obliged  to  watch  her 
closely  for  fear  of  her  being  stolen. 

Meanwhile  Gilbert  and  I  started  overland  in 
the  waggon,  with  a  team  of  horses  headed  by  Magog, 
to  whom  we  gave  a  whole  loaf  of  bread,  in  order  to 
console  him  for  the  temporary  loss  of  Dorcas.  He 
ate  it  very  mournfully,  and  I  think  would  have 
wept  had  he  known  how  to  shed  tears. 

It  was  now  winter,  the  creeks  all  full  of  water, 
and  the  roads  in  many  places  flooded.  The  second 
day  of  our  journey  we  were  crossing  a  river  when 
we  stuck  fast,  and  should  most  assuredly  have 
been  obliged  to  abandon  our  waggon,  had  it  not 
been  that  providentially  for  us  a  number  of  men 
were  working  near,  who,  seeing  our  difficulty,  came 
to  our  aid.  After  great  labour  they  succeeded  in 
extricating  us  from  our  unpleasant  and  perilous 
position,  and  we  once  more  proceeded  on  our 
journey.  After  three  or  four  days  of  hardship  we 
reached  the  Bass,  a  town  called  after  the  Bass 
Strait,  near  to  which  it  is  built.  This  channel  is 
about  forty  leagues  wide,  and  separates  the  south 
extremity  of  New  South  Wales  from  Tasmania,  It 


HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES.  271 

was  discovered  quite  by  chance  in,  I  believe,  the 
year  1798,  by  a  surgeon  of  the  name  of  Bass, 
who  was  in  an  open  whale-boat. 

With  the  Bass  Strait  we  had  nothing  to  do, 
remaining  only  in  the  town  for  a  couple  of  days. 
Here  we  were  obliged  to  leave  the  waggon  and 
continue  our  journey  on  horseback.  We  were 
fortunate  enough  to  come  across  two  men  who 
were  going  our  way — no  slight  advantage  to  us,  as 
they  knew  their  road.  One  of  our  fellow-travellers 
was  a  gentleman,  Frazer  by  name,  who  was  doing 
good  business  as  horse  dealer :  he  had  a  large 
number  with  him  now  taking  to  his  settlement, 
which  was  situated  about  twenty  miles  beyond  the 
Tarwin.  The  other  was  a  strange  character,  a 
thorough  bushman,  commonly  called  "  Cranky 
Jack."  He  rode  ahead,  steeplechase  fashion,  not 
caring  what  obstacles  might  be  in  his  way,  and 
always  came  out  right.  Foolhardy  to  a  degree,  and 
imbued  with  a  strong  love  for  adventures,  he 
appeared  to  pass  his  time  in  getting  into  dangers 
for  the  simple  pleasure  of  getting  out  of  them. 
He  had  been  wounded  by  the  natives,  generally 
smashed  by  various  accidents,  ought  to  have  been 
drowned  several  times,  and  burnt  oftener.  Prairie 
fires  and  wild  beasts,  thunderstorms  and  fell 
diseases,  poisonous  reptiles  and  cunning  natives, 
each  and  all  had  had  a  try  at  squashing  "  Cranky 
Jack,"  and  each  and  all  had  failed.  Here  he  was,  at 
fifty-five,  hideous  by  reason  of  his  many  scars,  and 
surly  enough  to  frighten  any  one  not  used  to  his 


272  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

ways ;  but  strong  as  Hercules,  tough  as  the 
toughest  leather,  and  an  invaluable  companion  in 
the  bush.  If  that  man's  life  and  adventures  could 
ever  be  extracted  from  him,  they  would  form  a 
volume  of  marvellous  interest. 

But  to  return  to  our  journey  to  the  Tarwin.  The 
roads  in  this  part  are  invisible  to  one  not  used  to 
them,  and  wind  about  through  the  bush  in  a  most 
bewildering  way,  losing  themselves  on  the  banks 
of  creeks,  which  at  this  time  of  year  are  full  of 
water,  and  very  generally  overflowing.  Bridges 
are  a  luxury  almost  unknown,  so  swimming  is  the 
only  method  of  crossing,  at  times  a  difficult  and 
dangerous  one.  Many  a  life  has  been  lost  in  trying 
to  ford  these  turbulent  streams  that  rush  through 
the  country  at  their  own  sweet  will. 

We  rested  some  little  time  in  a  grove  of  "  honey- 
suckle "  trees  to  refresh  ourselves  and  horses. 
"  Entertainment  for  man  and  Baste  "  is  often  to 
be  seen  gibbeted  on  an  Irish  mud-built  sheekeen 
in  the  Green  Isle  (the  "  m  "  in  man  always  small, 
and  the  "  B  "  in  Baste  very  large !),  but  in  the 
wilds  of  Australia  our  entertainment  was  drawn 
from  our  haversacks,  while  our  horses  procured 
theirs  in  the  rich  kangaroo  grass  which  abounded 
here. 

While  we  were  camping  for  a  rest,  the  horses  all 
hobbled  so  that  they  might  not  stray  too  far  from 
us,  a  party  of  natives  passed,  and  "  Cranky  Jack  " 
speaking  to  them,  I  was  enabled  to  observe  them 
more  attentively  than  had  been  the  case  when  a 


LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  273 

troop  had  passed  us  on  the  Yarra-Yarra  Eiver. 
They  were  entirely  naked,  painted  with  various 
colours,  and  ornamented  about  the  head  and 
shoulders  with  beads  and  shells.  The  men  seemed 
active  and  vigorous,  although  many  of  them  were 
very  stout,  and  one  of  the  fore- teeth  in  the  upper 
jaw  was  wanting  in  most  of  those  present.  Several 
women  were  with  them,  and  "  Cranky  Jack  "  called 
my  attention  to  the  fact  that  they  had  all  cut  off 
the  two  joints  of  their  little  fingers,  but  he  could 
not  tell  me  the  reason  for  such  an  act  of  mutila- 
tion. They  spoke,  and  their  voices  were  soft  and 
pleasing,  while  the  men's,  on  the  contrary,  were 
harsh  and  rough.  They  carried  some  of  their 
canoes  with  them,  which  were  made  simply  of  large 
pieces  of  bark  tied  up  at  both  ends  with  vines. 
Considering  their  slight  texture,  the  dexterity  with 
which  they  are  managed,  and  the  boldness  with 
which  they  venture  out  to  sea  in  them,  is  truly 
wonderful. 

Some  time  after,  we  came  across  some  of  their 
huts,  which  consist  of  pieces  of  bark  laid  together 
in  the  form  of  an  oven,  open  at  one  end,  very  low, 
but  long  enough  for  a  man  to  lie  at  full  length.  I 
couldn't  hear  much  about  their  habits  and  customs 
beyond  the  facts  that  their  women  were  not  with- 
out modesty,  and  that  they  burned  their  dead. 

Having  rested  ourselves,  we  remounted,  and  led 
by  "  Cranky  Jack  "  (who  was  in  the  employ  of  Mr, 
Frazer),  we  went  on  as  fast  as  we  could  ride, 
hoping  to  reach  "  Archie's  hut  "  before  nightfall. 

19 


2^4  HAS!)  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES: 

" Archie"  was  once  an  English  jockey,  and  had 
won  not  a  few  races,  although  a  bandy-legged  and 
rather  deformed  little  man.  Now  he  has  a  herd  in 
this  wild  region,  though  what  had  driven  him  to 
so  solitary  a  life  was  not  known. 

We  reached  his  hut  late  in  the  evening,  but 
Archie  was  away.  However,  we  took  possession  of 
his  dwelling  and  made  ourselves  as  comfortable  as 
we  could.  He  returned  at  daybreak,  and  was  no 
ways  disturbed  at  finding  his  hut  occupied  by  four 
strangers. 

We  breakfasted  together,  and  bidding  him  fare- 
well continued  our  journey.  About  midday  we 
reached  a  stock-yard  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  and 
there,  to  our  delight,  saw  the  Tarwin  River  lying 
beneath  us.  The  cutter  was  riding  at  anchor,  and 
Dane  was  rowing  our  boat  up  the  river,  filled  with 
stores. 

We  were  soon  on  the  bank  of  the  Tarwin, 
exchanging  warm  greetings.  Dorcas  looked  hand- 
somer than  ever,  and  sprang  upon  Magog's  back, 
walking  up  and  down  him  as  though  she  were  on 
quarter-deck,  the  horse  quivering  with  delight. 

The  first  talk  over,  I  left  my  horse  with  Gilbert 
and  got  into  the  boat  to  help  Dane  row  her  up  to 
the  place  suitable  for  a  landing.  Gilbert,  Frazer, 
and  "  Cranky  Jack  "  had  an  awful  job  swimming 
the  horses  over,  for  the  river  is  very  deep,  and  the 
banks  swampy  and  slippery  to  a  degree.  Several 
of  the  horses  were  nearly  lost,  being  so  exhausted 
in  the  many  ineffectual  efforts  to  gain  a  footing,  as- 


LIFE  IN  FEE  COLONIES.  tf$ 

to  be  nearly  unable  to  swim  ;  but  Australian  horses 
are  like  cats — have  nine  lives,  all  naturalists  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.  After  terrible  efforts 
and  many  wonderful  deeds  on  the  part  of  "  Cranky 
Jack,"  the  whole  lot  were  safely  landed,  and  stood 
dripping  and  trembling  with  fright  on  the  dry  land . 

We  soon  reached  our  destination,  and  surveyed 
"Jenkin's  Eanche "  with  beating  hearts.  The 
house  was  a  very  small,  poor  business,  having  one 
room  only,  which  we  found  filled  with  men  working 
for  a  Mr.  Black,  a  settler  not  far  off.  It  is  not  bush 
etiquette  to  turn  any  one  out,  even  of  your  own 
house,  so  that  night  we  were  packed  like  herrings 
in  a  barrel,  or  a  tighter  simile  still,  like  Chinamen 
in  their  sties  at  "  'Frisco." 

The  next  day  these  men  camped  at  a  little 
distance  from  us,  using  a  large  sail  for  a  tent, 
leaving  us  in  quiet  possession  of  our  own  posses- 
sion. 

With  what  pride  we  surveyed  our  vineyard,  which 
had  at  least  6,000  vines,  of  which  only  a  hundred 
or  so  were  dead  ;  our  orchard,  with  its  peach,  apple, 
and  plum-trees  ;  the  place  in  front  of  the  shanty 
where  we  meant  to  have  a  flower  garden  ;  the 
place  behind  where  we  intended  to  rear  poultry ; 
even  the  miserable  little  one-roomed  hut,  ten  feet 
by  eight  wide,  seemed  to  us  delightful,  because  it 
was  our  own. 

Mr.  Frazer  and  "  Cranky  Jack  "  bade  us  good- 
bye, and  started  off,  with  all  their  horses.  We 
never  saw  either  of  them  again. 


276  BARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

For  many  days  after  we  were  very  busy  settling 
in  and  putting  things  in  order.  We  built  up 
another  room,  laid  out  a  vegetable  garden,  and 
gradually  settled  down  into  our  irregular  groove. 

Months  passed  by;  we  laboured,  hunted,  and 
fished,  particularly  the  latter,  for  the  Tarwin 
which  flowed  past  our  dwelling  was  full  of  fish,  all 
large  and  good.  These  we  salted  and  exported  to 
Melbourne  by  the  same  cutter  that  had  brought 
our  heavy  luggage,  and  which  called  occasionally, 
taking  our  goods  into  the  city.  Yaughan,  the 
owner  of  the  cutter,  was  a  pleasant  spoken  young 
fellow,  and  seemed  honest  and  above  suspicion,  so 
we  fully  trusted  him — indeed  we  could  do  nothing 
else,  for  his  was  the  only  cutter  that  passed  up  the 
Tarwin  Kiver.  We  began  to  have  our  eyes  a  little 
opened  when  time  after  time  he  brought  back  so 
little  money,  with  a  separate  excuse  and  reason ; 
but  still,  knowing  the  difficulties  of  navigating  so 
rapid  a  river,  and  the  depression  in  trade  that 
happens  sometimes  from  one  week  to  another,  we 
could  say  nothing,  and  only  hope  for  better  days. 

So  we  improved  our  place,  fenced  it  all  around, 
built  a  kitchen,  planted  some  pear  and  fig-trees, 
raised  plenty  of  melons,  squash,  potatoes,  carrots, 
and  parsnips,  not  forgetting  onions,  which  grew  to 
an  astounding  size,  the  smallest  weighing  two 
pounds ;  the  carrots  were  also  giants,  the  very 
largest  I  have  ever  seen. 

Hunting  occupied  all  our  spare  time  ;  we  had 
abundance  of  wild  fowl,  ducks  in  particular,  geese, 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  277 

and  swans,  curious-looking  black  birds  with  red 
bills  and  feet,  uttering  a  singular  cry  like  the 
sound  of  an  Eolian  harp.  The  breast  fried  is  some- 
what in  flavour  like  a  beef- steak.  Every  morning 
we  would  examine  our  nets,  which  were  generally 
well  stocked  with  all  sorts  of  the  finny  tribe.  We 
breakfasted  always  on  fresh  fish,  and  became  expert 
cooks  in  roasting,  boiling,  and  otherwise  cooking 
them.  Our  guns  gave  us  all  the  meat  and  fowl  we 
required.  A  small  sort  of  kangaroo  called  the 
wallaby  is  very  delicious,  its  flesh  being  like  tender 
venison  ;  it  is  particularly  wholesome,  but  is  en- 
tirely without  fat.  "  Paddy  -melon "  is  also  a 
species  of  wallaby;  its  far  is  marked  somewhat 
differently,  having  a  dark  stripe  down  its  back  and 
another  across  its  shoulders.  They  are  equally 
good  to  eat,  and  it  is  a  meat  one  does  not  tire  of. 
We  found  also  large  quantities  of  opossums,  whose 
pelts  are  most  valuable,  chiefly  by  reason  of  their 
tail,  which  is  very  long,  bushy,  and  of  a  splendid 
glossy  black.  We  have  eaten  them  when  hard  up 
for  animal  food,  but  they  taste  too  strongly  of  the 
gum-tree  to  be  agreeable ;  still,  when  one  has 
nothing  else,  they  are  not  bad,  and  one  quickly 
becomes  accustomed  to  the  flavour. 

One  day  Gilbert  and  Dane  went  down  to  the  bay  to 
shoot  swans,  and  wading  out  to  retrieve  their  birds, 
got  entangled  in  the  rushes  and  mud,  sinking  to 
their  waists  at  every  step.  The  water  was  not 
deep  enough  to  swim,  and  they  had  the  almost 
Qertainty  of  a.  horrible  death  in  the  marshy  lagoon. 


278  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

into  which  they  had  entered..  By  cool,  cautious 
efforts — for  frantic  ones  would  but  have  sucked 
them  in  with  a  deadly,  irresistible  force — and 
using  their  guns  as  props,  they  managed  to  extri- 
cate themselves,  and  reached  land  exhausted  but 
safe.  Their  escape  was  nothing  short  of  miraculous. 
Dane's  fits  of  depression  began  to  overwhelm  him 
again,  and  he  suffered  greatly  from  his  heart. 
Gilbert  and  I  did  all  we  could  to  cheer  him  up  and 
make  him  take  an  interest  in  our  life,  but  it  was 
all  useless.  He  would  sit  for  hours  in  the  boat, 
unconscious  that  a  fish  was  caught ;  or,  taking  his 
gun,  would  go  hunting  and  return  empty-handed, 
with  unloaded  rifle.  I  became  seriously  uneasy,  and 
never  let  him  be  without  Gilbert  or  myself,  though 
he  showed  no  signs  of  wishing  to  repeat  the  mad 
act  he  had  attempted  on  the  banks  of  the  Yarra- 
Yarra  Eiver. 

Dorcas  seemed  his  greatest  comfort;  her  cool, 
calm,  independent  character  seemed  much  to 
attract  him,  and  when  she  went  out  hunting  with 
him  he  was  sure  to  bring  back  something.  He 
.dared  not  face  her  contempt. 

One  lovely  morning  we  were  all  three  in  our 
large  boat,  a  captain's  gig,  with  full  sails  on, 
intending  to  sail  down  the  bay  to  Screw  Creek,  so 
called  from  its  corkscrew- like  conformation,  in  order 
to  pass  a  pleasant  day  shooting  and  fishing,  and  to 
amuse  ourselves  generally.  We  were  in  good 
spirits  and  good  health,  our  affairs  were  prospering, 
and  we  had  a  much  larger  cargo  of  fish  and  furs 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  279 

prepared  to  send  by  the  cutter  when  next  it  called, 
than  we  had  ever  hoped  to  amass.  Dane  was  the 
brightest  of  the  three,  and  seemedto  have  thrown  care 
to  the  winds,  joking  and  singing  snatches  of  Scotch 
songs  in  his  really  good  tenor.  The  day  passed  on  ; 
we  had  caught  fish,  had  shot  opossums  and  wild 
fowl,  and,  night  falling,  let  ourselves  drift  down 
the  river,  steering  our  boat  by  the  light  of  a  new 
moon.  We  somehow  began  to  talk  of  our  different 
childhoods  and  early  life.  Mine  was  an  ordinary 
enough  case,  my  father  having  a  longer  pedigree 
than  a  purse,  and  struggling  to  bring  up  his  large 
family  on  a  stipend  that  a  footman  would  despise 
nowadays.  The  Emerald  Isle  was  my  native  place, 
and  there  I  spent  all  my  early  life.  Gilbert  was 
bom  in  Nova  Scotia,  the  eldest  of  seven,  and 
having  the  misfortune  of  losing  his  mother  when 
quite  a  boy,  a  mother  to  whom  he  was  passionately 
attached,  passed  the  sad  life  so  usual,  alas !  when 
father  or  mother  is  called  away,  and  the  little  ones 
are  left  to  battle  with  life  as  best  they  can.  His 
father  died,  too,  when  he  was  just  entering  manhood, 
and  there  was  little  inducement  for  him  to  return 
to  England,  where  death  continued  to  make  havoc 
in  his  immediate  family. 

When  we  two  had  spoken  I  looked  at  Dane  : 
would  he  tell  us  something  of  his  life,  I  wondered  ? 
and  hardly  thought  so,  when,  without  our  saying 
a  word,  he  began,  in  a  curious,  dreamy  voice  :  "  My 
father  was  a  Laird,  the  only  land  he  held  being  a* 
desolate  moor  and  a  ruined  house  near  which 


280  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

stands  a  small  but  deep  lake.  The  ruins  of  an  old 
chapel  are  there  also,  and  we  have  our  ghost,"  he 
added,  with  a  ghastly  smile. 

"  Don't  talk  about  it,  old  fellow,"  said  Gilbert. 
But  Dane  took  no  heed  of  him,  and  went  on  in  the 
same  dreamy  voice:  "When  any  misfortune  is 
going  to  happen  to  us  beautiful  sad  music  is  heard 
in  the  ruined  chancel  of  the  church  that  passes 
over  the  lake  and  dies  away  in  the  water,  whose 
surface  is  then,  and  only  then,  agitated  and  dashes 
against  the  sides  with  fury.  My  two  brothers  and 
I  as  boys  were  always  drawn  to  the  lake  by  some 
mysterious  attraction.  They  were  much  older 
than  I,  for  five  sisters  had  been  born  and  died 
between  them  and  me,  but  we  loved  each  other,  we 
three." 

Dane  stopped  suddenly,  looked  around  almost 
wildly  as  he  said,  "  What  matters  it  to  you  how 
they  died  ?  They  are  gone — all — I  only  am  left. 
There,  let  us  talk  of  something  else."  I  remember 
we  talked  of  those  mysterious  warnings  that  some- 
times are  given  to  people,  Dane's  mention  of  the 
music  that  heralded  a  death  in  his  family  probably 
giving  rise  to  the  topic,  and  it  was  astonishing  how 
many  different  cases  we  had  heard  from  various 
people. 

We  reached  the  ranche,  and  while  Gilbert  was 

fastening  the  boat,  Dane  asked  me  to  walk  awhile 

with  him  ;  he  was  restless,  and  could  not  sleep.     It 

'was  a   lovely  night,  the  young  moon  was  setting 

over  the  Tarwin,  and  all  looked  still  and  beautiful. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  281 

As  we  paced  up  and  down  Dane  told  me  the  story 
of  his  life. 

A  sad  story,  but  alas  !  not  an  uncommon  one. 
The  father,  brooding  over  his  poverty  and  supposed 
wrongs  until  scarce  responsible  for  the  wild  acts 
he  committed.  The  mother,  taken  from  a  large 
bright  family  and  isolated  in  the  gloomy  ruins  of 
her  husband's  ancient  home,  drooped  and  pined. 
One  by  one  her  little  girls  died,  and  she  became  a 
mere  shadow  of  a  woman  wandering  around  the 
house  silent  and  heart-broken.  More  money 
difficulties,  more  trouble,  for  the  father's  body  was 
found  in  the  lake  ;  he  had  drowned  himself ;  the 
second  son,  who  had  evidently  attempted  to  save 
him,  lost  his  life  at  the  same  time.  The  grass 
trampled  down  and  broken  bushes  testified  to  a 
struggle  between  the  two  men.  Under  this  blow 
the  mother  sank,  and  the  eldest  and  youngest  of 
the  family  lived  together,  and  it  seemed  as  if  peace 
at  last  and  some  happiness  was  to  be  theirs. 

Not  so,  however.  When  Dane  was  just  grown 
up  his  brother  married.  The  bride,  a  handsome, 
self-willed  woman,  soon  made  the  life  unbearable  to 
Dane,  but  her  husband  was  infatuated.  To  satisfy 
her  whims  and  extravagances  everything  was 
sacrificed,  and  all  the  improvements  the  two 
brothers  had  made  when  alone  were  left  unfinished ; 
all  the  money  put  aside  for  rebuilding  the  old  home 
was  used  in  gifts  for  the  woman  who  had  so  fasci- 
nated the  Laird.  Then,  when  there  was  no  more 
money,  she  became  fierce  and  intolerant ;  her  hus.- 


282  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

band,  heavily  in  debt,  could  do  nothing  more.  Bitter 
disputes  arose.  One  day  she  left  him,  having  forged 
his  name  to  a  cheque,  leaving  debts  in  every 
direction.  Dane  said  his  brother  told  him  all  the 
story  with  the  manner  of  a  man  frozen  with  grief. 
He  left  him,  saying  he  would  go  into  Edinburgh 
to  see  what  could  be  done  to  keep  at  least  the  dis- 
honour from  becoming  public,  and  he  begged  Dane 
to  stay  at  the  Keep  until  his  return.  Some  days 
after  he  was  asked  to  come  and  identify  the  body 
of  a  man  which  had  been  found  in  one  of  the  deep 
ponds  with  which  the  place  abounded.  In  the 
corpse  with  its  face  distorted  with  agony  he 
recognized  his  brother.  "  I  always  see  it  before 
me,  it  never  leaves  me,"  said  poor  Dane,  shivering 
so  violently  that  once  the  story  told  I  tried  to 
soothe  him,  and  speak  to  him  of  hope  ;  he  was 
young  and  in  fair  health  ;  a  strong  effort  of  will 
would  help  him  to  get  rid  of  what  was  after  all  but 
a  great  nervous  shock. 

"  It  is  no  good,"  he  said,  in  a  tone  of  hopeless 
despair,  "  I  shall  end  as  they  did,  I  cannot  help 
myself,  the  temptation  is  at  times  quite  irresistible. 
A  power  within  me  stronger  than  my  will  pushes 
me  on.  Whenever  you  hear  I  am  dead  you  will 
know  I  couldn't  help  myself.  Don't  mention  what 
I  have  told  you  to  any  one  until  my  death  frees  you; 
it  cannot  matter  then,  for  I  am  the  last  of  the  race." 

"  But  your  aunt,  she  seems  to  have  been  kind  to 
you." 

"  She  is  my  mother's  half-sister — yes,  she  is  kinci, 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  283 

but  I  hardly  know  her,  and  have  neither  the  wish 
nor  the  right  to  cast  a  gloom  upon  her  life." 

"  But  you  promised  me  not  to  attempt  to  take 
your  life,"  I  reminded  him. 

"  Yes,  and  I  have  kept  that  promise,  and  mean 
to  keep  it  as  long  as  I  have  the  power." 

We  talked  a  little  longer,  chiefly  about  the  beauty 
of  the  night,  then  Gilbert  called  us  in.  Actuated 
by  some  impulse,  I  shook  hands  with  Dane,  and  we 
all  retired  for  the  night. 

We  never  saw"  him  again. 

He  must  have  got  up  when  we  were  both  asleep 
and  slipped  out  of  the  tent.  On  the  table  he  had 
placed  a  bit  of  paper  with  these  words :  "  Don't 
trouble  about  me,  I  am  going  to  my  aunt  for  a 
change,  and  will  write  to  you  from  there  if  I  don't 
return  in  a  month." 

Though  I  felt  a  little  uneasy,  still  we  agreed 
that  a  change  was  the  best  thing  for  him,  and  there 
was  nothing  extraordinary  in  his  going  off  suddenly 
like  that.  It  was  only  in  thinking  it  over  that  I 
noted  how  he  had  never  told  me  his  aunt's  name, 
nor  what  profession  her  husband  was,  so  we  could 
not  trace  him  if  we  wished.  Whether  the  name 
he  went  by  was  his  own  I  do  not  know  for  certain, 
but  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  his  curious 
Christian  name  might  be  his  surname,  for  he 
answered  to  it  much  more  readily  than  to  Stuart. 

It  was  three  weeks  before  we  knew  for  certain 
what  had  become  of  him.  Then  some  settlers 
coining  past  our  ranche  brought  us  the  sad  news 


284.  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

of  his  death.  They  had  met  him  going  to  Mel- 
bourne, and  as  they  were  also  bound  for  that  city, 
rode  on  together.  Dane  had  taken  one  of  our 
horses.  The  morning  before  they  reached  Melbourne 
they  missed  him,  but  finding  his  horse  with  theirs, 
waited  a  short  time,  thinking  he  would  join  them. 
As  he  did  not  do  so  they  searched  around  for  him, 
and  came  upon  his  dead  body  floating  in  a  lagoon. 
Not  knowing  his  name  or  anything  about  him,  they 
buried  him  there,  and  went  to  Melbourne,  where, 
having  done  their  business,  they  returned  to  their 
settlement  some  forty  miles  beyond  ours.  They 
called  at  our  ranche  to  return  the  horse,  poor 
Dane  having  said  that  his  horse  belonged  to  a 
settler  called  Jenkins,  on  the  Tarwin  Eiver. 

"  He  must  have  got  caught  in  the  swamp 
grasses,"  said  the  man  who  told  us  the  story,  "  and 
although  he  must  have  shouted  for  help  we  were 
too  far  off  to  hear  him.  Very  hard,  poor  young 
fellow,  to  be  cut  off  suddenly  like  that." 

I  knew  better  ;  it  was  no  chance  or  accident  that 
had  ended  Dane's  short  life.  One  of  those  heredi- 
tary morbid  fits  of  depression  had  evidently  come 
over  him,  and  as  it  were  forced  him  to  take  his  life. 
I  reproached  myself  bitterly  for  not  watching  him 
more  closely,  yet  he  had  never  been  so  bright  and 
cheerful  as  on  that  last  day  he  spent  with  us. 
From  what  I  could  extract  from  the  three  settlers 
he  had  been  a  pleasant  and  cheerful  companion  the 
days  they  spent  together,  but  had  mentioned 
neither  his  name  nor  where'  he>  lived,  only  saying 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  285 

the  horse  was  ours,  so  that  we  might  get  the  animal 
again,  but  not  telling  his  fellow-travellers  that  he 
had  lived  with  us. 

Poor  Dane  !  his  sad,  troublous  young  life  was 
ended.  From  the  day  of  his  birth  to  the  day  of  his 
death  a  curse  had  seemed  to  lie  upon  him  and 
overshadow  him  until  the  burden  of  life  was  greater 
than  he  could  bear.  Let  us  not  judge.  God's 
ways  are  not  our  ways,  and  all  we,  in  our  poor 
human  judgment,  can  say  is,  that  the  poor  lad  was 
more  sinned  against  than  sinning. 

We  afterwards  tried  to  see  his  grave,  but  we 
found  that  the  floods  had  been  out  and  swept  away 
the  rough  wooden  cross  that  the  three  settlers  had 
placed  above  him,  so  we  could  not  be  sure  of  the 
spot. 

Gilbert  and  I  went  on  our  usual  way  after  Dane's 
death,  waiting  for  the  cutter  to  take  our  really 
valuable  cargo  to  Melbourne.  We  increased  it 
daily  either  with  skins  or  fish.  At  this  time  I 
built  a  small  boat,  pointed  canoe  fashion  at  both 
ends,  very  light  and  easy  to  manage,  and  from 
which  we  caught  many  fish. 

The  cutter  still  not  coming,  Gilbert  packed  a 
large  quantity  of  fish,  flour,  fruit,  &c.,  on  Magog 
and  started  for  the  nearest  town,  the  Bass.  He 
was  a  long  time  away,  as  he  had  forty-nine  miles 
through  a  wild  and  uninhabited  forest  to  pass 
through.  With  endless  swamps  and  streams  and 
rivers  to  cross,  often  he  found  himself  in  great 
peril  and  difficulty,  and  being  quite  alone,  got 


286  BA&l)  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

depressed  and  unhappy.  But  Magog  was  a  fine 
beast,  and  carried  him  safely  through  all  dangers, 
swimming  a  river  or  trotting  on  contentedly  under 
a  burning  sun,  asking  for  little  and  contented  with 
less. 

Arriving  at  Bass,  Gilbert  went  to  the  one  hotel, 
and  renewed  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Laycock,  the 
proprietor,  who  "  ran  "  the  hotel  at  that  time.  This 
gentleman,  an  Englishman,  had  only  lately  married, 
and  hearing  so  much  from  Gilbert  of  the  beauty  and 
healthfulness  of  the  Tarwin,  determined  to  return 
with  him  and  give  his  bride  an  idea  of  life  in  the 
bush. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  delightful.  We 
gave  up  the  one  bedroom  to  them,  and  did  all  in 
our  power  to  make  it  agreeable  to  Mrs.  Laycock, 
who  was  a  delicious  young  English  girl,  devoted  to 
her  husband,  and  delighted  with  everything.  We 
spent  our  time  in  picnics  up  the  river  in  out-of- 
the-way  places,  where  we  found  beautiful  plants, 
and  all  sorts  of  lovely  flowers,  tropical  in  their  rich 
luxuriance,  returning  in  the  evening  to  our  camp 
and  having  music  or  readings.  They  brought 
many  books,  and,  what  is  more,  left  them  for  us,  so 
we  passed  a  very  happy  few  weeks  —  a  bright 
spot  in  our  lonely  existence. 

As  soon  as  they  left  us,  Vaughan  came  with  his 
cutter  and  took  our  valuable  cargo  on  board.  Even 
estimating  the  value  low,  we  calculated  to  make 
enough  money  to  enable  us  to  buy  the  adjoining 
land,  and  hire  men  to  help  in  the  work  on  the  farm. 


SCENERY— GIPP'S  LAND. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  fBE  COLONIES.  2'87 

One  day,  pending  Vanghan's  return,  Gilbert  went 
down  in  his  boat  to  Screw  Creek,  about  twelve  miles 
off,  to  fish,  and  on  coming  back  the  boat  stuck  fast 
on  a  sandbank  in  the  bay,  and  was  soon  high  and  dry, 
so  rapidly  did  the  tide  go  out.  The  gig  was  too 
heavy  for  him  to  push  off,  and  there  he  sat  for  the 
whole  night  cold  and  hungry,  with  endless  sand- 
banks rising  in  every  direction.  This  place,  called 
"  Anderson's  Inlet,"  is  a  large  reach  of  sandbanks 
with  a  narrow  channel  winding  about  in  a  most 
tortuous  and,  as  Pat  would  say,  "  serpentine  "  man- 
ner. It  was  early  morning  before  Gilbert  could  get 
off.  He  said  a  pelican  or  two  came  and  looked  at 
him,  but  walked  away  when  their  curiosity  was 
satisfied. 

It  is  very  comical  to  see  these  gigantic  birds 
standing  in  the  shallows,  with  their  wings  extended, 
watching  for  their  prey.  An  unconscious  fish 
passes  by,  Mr.  Pelican  snatches  him  up,  and  you 
see  the  poor  victim  descending  the  immense  skinny 
bag  with  many  a  leap  and  flounder,  until  with  a 
final  gulp  it  disappears.  The  pelicans  here  are  not 
white,  nor  yet  pink,  but  beautifully  pencilled  about 
the  shoulders  (you  can  see  by  this  feeble  description 
that  I  am  not  much  of  an  ornithologist) ;  they  stand 
about  four  feet  high,  perhaps  even  a  little  taller. 
In  'Frisco  I  have  seen  them  very  little  larger  than 
a  goose,  and  quite  white. 

Screw  Creek  is  full  of  fish,  and  there  is  first-rate 
seine  fishing.  The  tremendous  stringarees,  or 
sting-ray,  abound  here,  a  large  flat  fish  with  a 


288  H-ARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

serrated  spine  and  whip-like  tail,  with  which  he 
can  inflict  a  terrible  and,  as  we  have  been  told,  fatal 
wound.  These  are  the  "devil-fish"  of  some 
authors,  and  the  name  is  not  altogether  misapplied. 

About  a  mile  from  our  ranche  were  several 
lagoons,  where  we  used  often  to  go  and  shoot  wild 
duck.  Standing  under  a  ti-tree  the  ducks  would 
alight  almost  at  our  feet,  and  they  would  continue 
to  come  in  immense  numbers,  not  in  the  least 
deterred  by  our  firing,  until  we  got  positively  sick 
of  such  wholesale  slaughter.  Had  there  been  a 
market  near,  or  any  regular  communication  by 
steamboat  with  the  nearest  town,  we  should 
quickly  have  made  our  fortune  ;  and  we  thoroughly 
enjoyed  our  mode  of  life,  for  neither  Gilbert  nor  I 
cared  for  the  pleasures  of  city  life.  This  Bohemian 
existence,  far  "  away  from  the  world's  cold  strife," 
was  far  more  to  our  taste  than  the  gayest  and  most 
luxurious  life  modern  Babylon  could  offer  to  us. 

As  you  walk  along  through  the  bush  you  are 
startled  by  the  sharp  sounding  lash  of  a  whip,  and 
to  your  amazement  you  find  it  is  produced  by  a 
little  scrap  of  a  bird,  who  seems  to  enjoy  your 
confusion  immensely,  and  lashes  away  as  though 
he  had  a  carter's  whip  four  feet  long  in  his  posses- 
sion. The  tyre-bird  is  a  wonderful  creature. 
Whistle  a  tune  and  he  will  take  up  the  air  note 
by  note  with  faultless  accuracy.  He  is  a  fearful 
mimic;  nothing  escapes  him.  Cocks  and  hens 
crow  and  cackle  all  around ;  you  would  think  the 
whole  district  a  vast  poultry-yard,  the  raison 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  289 

d'etre  being  a  few  fowls  around  your  hut,  whose 
amorous  conversation  is  the  subject  of  gossip  all 
over  the  country  by  these  busybodies.  The  bark- 
ing of  a  dog,  the  singing  of  the  bull-frog,  is  faithfully 
reproduced.  Dorcas  has  been  driven  to  the  very 
borders  of  frenzy  by  hearing  her  own  words  repeated 
in  her  own  voice  from  the  top  of  a  mimosa  or  a 
gum-tree.  I  have  taken  out  my  violin  sometimes 
and  played  a  tune.  After  a  moment's  silence  a 
dozen  Paganinis  scrape  and  fiddle  around.  The 
effect  is  weird  in  the  extreme.  This  lyre-bird — - 
panura,  I  think,  is  its  family  name — is  a  sort  of 
pheasant,  at  least  in  look,  of  a  bright  brown  colour, 
with  a  most  magnificent  tail,  which  tail,  when 
spread  out  a  la  peacock,  resembles  an  ancient  lyre — 
hence  its  English  name.  These  same  tails,  alas  ! 
are  much  sought  after,  and  fetch  a  high  price  in 
Melbourne. 

Numerous  and  extraordinary  are  the  creatures 
of  all  sorts  and  sizes  that  one  comes  across.  I 
stooped  down  once  to  pick  up  a  twig  to  clear  out 
my  pipe.  Seeing  a  nice  straight  little  branch  about 
six  or  eight  inches  in  length,  I  took  it  up,  whenlo  ! 
the  thing  came  to  life  and  wriggled  out  of  my 
fingers !  How  I  started,  dropped  my  pet  little 
black  pipe,  which  smashed  to  pieces  ! 

The  praying  insect  (mantis  religiosus)  is  another 
marvel  in  the  insect  kingdom.  It  walks  along  with 
its  lengthy  thorax  at  a  right  angle  to  the  rest  of  its 
body,  its  nun-like  head  raised  aloft  as  if  waiting  an 
answer  to  its  prayers,  and  its  fore  feet  elevated  high 
20 


290  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

in  piteous  supplication.  Hypocrite  !  it  is  only  on 
the  look-out  for  some  victim  to  rend  in  pieces  and 
devour  ;  those  pious  hands  so  tightly  clasped  are 
powerful  and  merciless  saws.  Insatiable,  inexorable, 
cruel,  and  false,  the  mantis  religiosus  goes  on  its 
baneful  way,  leaving  desolation  and  misery  wherever 
it  passes.  Did  you  ever  meet  a  human  mantis 
religiosus  ?  They  are  not  uncommon.  I  shall 
speak  of  one  shortly. 

These  praying  insects  seem  to  be  a  large  family, 
and  vary  in  size  from  one  to  six  inches  in  length, 
some  never  exceeding  one  inch.  Their  wings  are 
like  green  leaves,  and  their  eyes  sparkle  with  snake- 
like  brilliancy. 

We  were  now  daily  expecting  Vaughan  to  return, 
and  building  up  many  chateaux  en  Espagne  with 
the  golden  harvest  that  was  to  be  ours  after  our 
hard  toil  and  patient  labour.  Fools  !  we  should 
have  learnt  ere  now  how  useless  it  is  to  plan  for 
the  future,  the  expected  rarely  happens;  only  of 
misfortune  and  sorrow  can  we  be  sure  in  this 
world.  And  so  we  found  it. 

Vaughan  sent  us  a  letter  by  a  messenger,  saying 
a  frightful  misfortune  had  overtaken  him,  and  with 
him  we  too  were  ruined.  His  steamer  had  become 
a  wreck,  and  all  our  valuable  cargo  had  gone  to  the 
bottom.  He  expressed  a  hope  that  we  knew  where 
to  look  for  help,  to  bear  our  troubles  patiently,  the 
Fountain  of  Life,  in  whose  waters  he  himself 
intended  to  dip  in,  or  wash  himself  in — I  forget 
which  expression  he  used. 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  291 

"  All  lost !  "  said  poor  Gilbert,  staring  at  the 
messenger  of  woe. 

"  Is  Mr.  Vaughan  much  broken  down  ?  "  I  asked, 
wishing  to  turn  the  current  of  his  thoughts. 

"He  has  lost  everything,  he  says  he  is  ruined." 
The  man  grinned  as  he  replied,  "The  boat's  gone 
down  fast  enough." 

"  What's  there  to  grin  at,  you  idiot !  "  cried 
Gilbert,  irritated  by  the  fellow's  untimely  mirth. 

"  Not  so  big  an  idiot  as  some  one  I  know,"  was 
the  answer.  "  This  child  would  never  trust  a 
sharper  like  Vaughan  with  a  rich  freight,  not  he  !  " 

"  He  couldn't  help  the  steamer's  being  wrecked," 
I  said. 

The  man  grinned  again.  "  In  course  he  couldn't 
help  it  after  she  was  run  on  a  reef,  but  there's  some 
wrecks  as  is  accidents,  and  there's  some  wrecks  as 
isn't." 

"  Look  here,  my  man,  just  speak  out  plainly,  will 
you,  if  you  know  anything,"  I  said,  quickly,  for  I 
saw  Gilbert  was  getting  in  a  state  of  irritation 
bordering  on  frenzy. 

"Well,  the  truth  is  that  Yaughan  is  a  d 

scoundrel.  He's  just  wrecked  the  steamer  hisself, 
having  first  heavily  insured  the  cargo — your  cargo 
— in  his  own  name.  The  boat,  in  course,  was 
insured.  Lots  of  the  skins  and  kegs  of  fish  and 
fruit  were  floating  about;  these  he  had  hawked 
about  Melbourne  streets,  and  made  a  nice  little 
sum.  You  see,  you  are  the  only  settlers  down  this 
way  now,  so  it  'tain't  worth  his  while  to  steam  here 


292  HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

any  longer.  The  boat  was  old,  and  being  well 
insured  he's  lost  nought;  indeed,  he's  gained  a 
mint  o'  money." 

"  But  surely,"  I  said, "  we  can  get  some  redress?  " 

"  Can  you?  I  should  likes  to  know  how.  No, 
no,  you're  done,  and  if  I  were  in  your  place  I'd  clear 
out  of  this  as  quick  as  I  could.  You  might  get  a 
little  money  for  it  now,  you  won't  in  another  month 
or  two.  You  see,  with  Vaughan's  cutter  your  only 
chance  of  export  trade  is  gone." 

"  Do  you  know  where  Vaughan  is  now  ?  "  asked 
Gilbert,  who  had  been  very  quiet  while  the  man 
was  talking. 

"  I  left  him  in  Melbourne,  playing  the  martyr, 
bemoaning  your  fate,  and  selling  the  skins  for  a  fair 
price,  as  he  said  the  money  was  for  two  mates  of 
his,  who  had  all  their  fortune  in  his  cutter.  Has  he 
sent  you  any  money  ?  " 

"Not  a  penny;  he  simply  says  that  he  as  well 
as  we  are  ruined." 

"  Well,  I'm  real  sorry  for  you,"  said  the  man, 
preparing  to  go,  which  recalled  me  to  the  duties  of 
hospitality. 

He  remained  with  us  the  night,  and  left  the  next 
day  to  return  to  Melbourne. 

"  If  you  come  into  the  city  at  any  time,  you  can 
come  to  my  diggings  if  you  like,"  he  said,  telling 
us  where  he  lived. 

"  Yes,  we  shall  be  in  Melbourne  soon,"  replied 
Gilbert,  to  my  surprise,  for  we  had  settled  nothing 
yet.  "  I  mean  to  see  Mr.  Vaughan." 


HAHD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  293 

"Lor',  it  ain't  no  good;  you  won't  git  a  penny 
out  of  him." 

"  Nor  do  I  wish  to  ask  him,  but  I  don't  leave 
Melbourne  until  I've  seen  him  and  horsewhipped 
him  in  the  public  streets,"  was  the  quiet  answer. 

The  man  looked  at  him  thoughtfully;  he  was 
evidently  comparing  the  somewhat  stalwart  frame 
of  Mr.  Vaughan  with  my  friend's  slight  make  and 
small  stature. 

"  If  you  do,  I  hope  I  may  be  there  to  see  it,"  he 
remarked.  Then,  mounting  his  horse,  he  was 
swiftly  out  of  sight. 

Here  we  were  once  more  face  to  face  with  ruin, 
once  more  to  begin  climbing  the  ladder  again,  the 
top  of  which  we  had  so  nearly  reached.  Well,  it 
was  no  good  sitting  still  and  cursing  our  fate,  which 
I  was  more  disposed  to  do  than  Gilbert,  who  seemed 
seized  with  a  feverish  desire  to  settle  up  everything 
as  quickly  as  possible  in  order  to  get  to  Melbourne. 
His  determination  to  punish  the  scoundrel  who  had 
ruined  us  became  stronger  every  hour,  and  every 
delay  but  added  fuel  to  the  fire  of  his  wrath.  All 
my  attempts  at  changing  him  being  useless,  I  could 
only  hope  Vaughan  would  leave  Melbourne  before 
we  entered  it,  for  I  feared  in  the  tussel  that  must 
inevitably  come  if  the  two  men  met,  that  Gilbert 
would  get  the  worst  off.  He,  however,  seemed  to 
have  no  doubt  not  only  that  he  should  meet 
Vaughan,  but  that  he  would  horsewhip  him  in 
public. 

It  was  a  sad  few  weeks  that  followed.   The  ranche 


294  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

was  disposed  of  to  a  settler  who  did  not  care  to 
export  his  skins  and  fish,  but  only  to  rear  horses  ; 
and  one  morning  we  packed  our  remaining  baggage 
on  Magog's  back,  put  Dorcas  on  him,  and  sorrow- 
fully turned  away  from  our  pretty  ranche  where 
we  had  spent  so  many  peaceful  days.  Not  without 
great  toil  and  difficulty  we  reached  Bass,  and 
remained  there  three  or  four  days  to  rest.  I  could 
hardly  persuade  Gilbert  to  so  much,  for  his  eager- 
ness to  reach  Melbourne  had  now  assumed  all  the 
strength  of  a  mania.  I  perceived  that  a  small  but 
exceedingly  powerful  horsewhip  never  left  his 
possession. 

At  length  we  reached  Melbourne,  took  Magog 
and  Dorcas  to  their  old  master.  He  bought  back 
the  former,  paying  a  fair  sum  for  him,  and  was 
enchanted  to  have  Dorcas  back  again.  We  grieved 
sorely  at  parting  with  her,  and  hurried  away  from 
her,  fearing  to  trust  ourselves  to  another  look  or 
word.  My  last  sight  of  her,  she  was  sitting  on 
Magog's  back  cleaning  her  face  in  a  slow  and 
thoughtful  manner.  I  have  known  cats  before  and 
since,  but  never  have  come  across  one  to  compare 
with  green-eyed,  grey-coated  Dorcas.  But  to  less 
pleasant  topics.  We  lodged  with  the  man  who 
had  brought  us  the  tidings  of  woe,  and  from  him 
we  heard  that  Vaughan  was  in  Melbourne  and  had 
set  up  large  stores,  and  had  every  prospect  of  doing 
well. 

Gilbert's  eyes — large  green-grey  ones — dilated 
and  grew  black,  like  Dorcas's  when  she  saw  a  foe. 


HARD  LIFE  M  THE  COLONIES.  295 

I  made  one  last  attempt  to  dissuade  him  from 
carrying  out  his  intention,  but  in  vain. 

The  next  morning  he  asked  me  to  look  out  for  a 
ship  going  to  Sydney,  and  to  bespeak  two  berths. 
He  then  went  out  with  Hogg,  the  man  at  whose 
house  we  were  lodging.  I  went  down  to  the  wharf, 
found  a  vessel  that  would  start  in  a  fortnight's  time, 
one  having  left  the  day  before,  took  our  berths,  and 
returned  to  our  lodgings  as  quickly  as  I  could.  I 
had  not  been  long  there  when  Gilbert  and  Hogg 
entered,  flushed  and  excited. 

"  There,  I've  done  it,"  cried  the  former,  letting 
himself  drop  into  a  chair.  "  Now  we  can  leave 
Melbourne  as  soon  as  you  like." 

Hogg  was  eager  to  tell  the  story.  They  had  gone 
straight  to  Vaughan's  stores,  who,  on  first  seeing 
Gilbert,  changed  colour  and  looked  uncomfortable, 
but  recovering  himself  after  a  moment,  greeted 
him  as  though  he  were  a  dear  friend.  Finding 
Gilbert  quiet  and  polite  enough,  and  seemingly  not 
disposed  to  bear  him  any  ill-will,  he  proposed  going 
to  a  neighbouring  tavern  to  have  the  usual  "  drink." 
Hogg,  of  course,  was  also  invited.  No  sooner  were 
they  in  the  public  street  than  Gilbert  pulled  out 
his  whip  and  struck  Yaughan  across  the  face, 
following  the  blow  up  with  a  rapid  succession.  So 
quick  had  he  been  that  Vaughan,  amazed  and 
stunned,  was  some  seconds  before  he  could  defend 
himself.  He  drew  out  a  revolver,  but  it  was 
knocked  from  his  hand  by  a  man  standing  by, 
while  cries  of  "  Shame  1  "  were  heard  on  all  sides. 


296  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

A  large  crowd  had  collected,  several  policemen 
among  them;  but  these  guardians  of  the  peace, 
beyond  taking  a  keen  interest  in  the  matter,  made 
no  objection. 

"  Niver  enjoyed  myself  so  much  in  my  life," 
wound  up  Hogg,  wiping  his  heated  brow.  "  You 
wouldn't  'ave  thought  he  had  so  much  strength  in 
him,  but  he  was  like  a  wild  cat.  Vaughan  won't 
lose  those  marks  in  a  hurry,  I  bet." 

It  was  lucky  our  ship  did  not  leave  for  a  fort- 
night, for  the  worry  consequent  on  his  loss,  added 
to  that  day's  excitement,  brought  on  one  of 
Gilbert's  illnesses,  far  more  serious  than  the  one 
he  had  last  had  on  the  banks  of  the  Yarra-Yarra 
Eiver. 

All  night  he  was  delirious,  his  talk  being  solely 
and  entirely  about  Yaughan  and  the  loss  of  the 
ranche.  All  his  pent-up  anger  seemed  to  find  vent  in 
passionate  invectives  against  our  pretended  friend, 
and  he  struggled  violently  with  Hogg  and  myself 
in  the  fancy  that  he  had  not  yet  meted  out  the 
punishment  due  to  that  scoundrel.  After  a  while 
he  quieted  down  a  little,  and  at  daybreak  Hogg 
went  for  a  doctor.  Gilbert  fell  into  a  heavy,  uneasy 
sleep,  and  I  nearly  dozed  by  his  side  when  the  door 
of  our  room  opened,  and  what  I  took  to  be  an 
"  old  clo'  "  man  entered. 

He  was  tall  and  thin,  with  baggy  trousers  in  the 
last  stage  of  shabbiness.  A  long  coat  with  three 
capes,  all  green  with  age  and  more  or  less  torn, 
was  kept  on  his  spare  limbs  by  one  large  button. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES,  297 

A  chimney-pot  hat  surmounted  some  thin,  straggling 
locks  of  grey  hair,  and  a  pair  of  keen,  dark  eyes 
looked  sharply  out  from  snowy  eyebrows.  Dirty, 
unshaven,  and  fierce-looking,  my  uninvited  visitor 
was  decidedly  unprepossessing. 

"  You've  made  a  mistake,  my  man,"  I  said,  rising 
and  going  towards  him,  and  speaking  in  a  low  tone 
for  fear  of  rousing  Gilbert.  "  I  don't  know  you,  and 
my  friend  there  is  ill." 

"  Move  aside,"  said  this  strange  object,  trying  to 
push  past  me  as  I  barred  his  way. 

"  But  who  are  you  ?     What  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  Sent — Hogg — doctor " 

I  fell  back  in  astonishment  before  this  weird 
disciple  of  Hippocrates,  who,  taking  advantage  of 
my  involuntary  movement,  advanced  towards  the 
bed  and  stared  fixedly  at  Gilbert. 

Fearing  I  had  to  do  with  a  madman,  I  left  the 
door  open  that  I  might  call  in  help  in  case  of  need, 
and  put  a  thick  rug  handy  to  smother  up  the 
"  doctor  "  if  he  showed  the  least  signs  of  mischief. 
Then  I  stationed  myself  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
bed,  which,  being  a  small  iron  one,  I  could  quickly 
get  around. 

The  "doctor"  took  no  notice  whatever  of  me, 
but  appeared  profoundly  interested  in  my  poor 
friend,  whose  eyes  he  opened,  pulse  he  felt,  tongue 
he  examined  with  an  indifference  to  the  man  whom 
he  thus  manipulated  that  was  curious  to  see.  Then, 
without  looking  at  me,  he  asked  me  many  questions 
about  Gilbert,  telling  me  sharply  once  that  he 


2&8  BARb  LIFE  IN  fBE  COLONIES. 

didn't  need  any  surmises  on  my  part,  but  simply 
answers  to  his  questions.  The  cicatrice  in  the  head 
appeared  deeply  to  interest  him,  and  he  could  hardly 
tear  himself  away. 

Finally  he  asked  for  paper  and  pen,  wrote  down 
his  ordinance  in  a  singularly  firm  and  beautiful 
handwriting,  and  muttering,  "  Shall  come  again 
this  evening,"  shuffled  out  of  the  room. 

The  chemist  to  whom  I  took  the  prescription 
glancing  at  the  signature,  said,  "  You  are  in  luck's 
way,  if  you  want  to  save  the  life  of  the  person  who's 
ill.  But  how  did  you  get  at  him  ?  " 

I  explained,  and  then  asked  some  questions  about 
the  doctor.  The  chemist  informed  me  that  Dr. 
Fernnoh  was  as  well  known  for  his  great  skill  as 
for  his  great  eccentricities.  Any  dangerous  or 
singular  illness  always  attracted  him,  and  he  would 
stay  night  and  day  watching  and  attending  some 
hopeless  case  that  other  doctors  had  given  up.  He 
had  snatched  so  many  from  the  grim  hands  of 
Death  that  no  one  despaired  if  he  could  only  be 
induced  to  undertake  the  case.  But  there  lay  the 
difficulty  :  he  cared  for  no  one,  for  nothing  ;  money, 
fame,  and  honour  were  offered  him  in  vain ;  if  the 
malady  happened  to  be  one  that  did  not  interest 
him  all  prayers  and  entreaties  were  useless. 
Without  apparently  either  heart  or  feeling,  seeing 
the  most  atrocious  sufferings  with  coldness, 
performing  the  most  terrible  operations  with  a 
sang-froid  that  could  only  come  from  an  utter  want 
of  sensibility,  Dr.  Fernnoh's  presence  was  as  much 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  293 

feared  as  desired  in  many  cases.  But  he  went 
where  he  chose,  and  sometimes  where  he  was  not 
wanted.  The  chemist  told  me  of  a  case  where  a 
poor  woman  was  suffering  from  cancer  complicated 
with  heart  disease.  Her  one  prayer  was  that  Dr. 
Fernnoh  might  not  be  told,  for  she  dreaded  his 
cruelty,  and  preferred  to  die  in  peace.  He  scented 
her  case  out  as  a  cat  scents  a  mouse,  came  to  her, 
and,  utterly  indifferent  to  her  prayers  and  entreaties, 
took  her  in  hand,  forced  the  other  doctors  to  leave, 
as  he  always  did  by  his  intolerant  insolence,  cut 
out  the  cancer,  strengthened  the  heart,  and,  in  a 
word,  cured  her. 

Thanks  and  abuse  were  alike  indifferent  to  this 
strange  man ;  his  one  passion  was  the  curious  and 
extraordinary  in  his  profession.  No  one  knew 
anything  about  him  or  his  family.  He  was 
supposed  to  be  of  Danish  extraction,  although  no 
reason  could  be  assigned  for  the  supposition.  He 
lived  alone  in  a  huge,  bare  house  with  an  old  man 
and  an  old  woman,  who  were  as  tactiturn  and  odd 
as  their  master.  Some  said  he  was  a  millionaire, 
others  that  he  had  not  money  enough  to  buy  his 
daily  bread.  In  fact,  nothing  was  really  known 
about  him,  except  the  fact  that  he  was  very  clever 
as  a  doctor  and  very  singular. 

I  paid  for  the  medicine  and  went  back  thought- 
fully to  my  friend.  I  found  him  in  the  same 
position,  and  the  woman  I  had  left  in  charge  said 
he  had  not  moved.  I  looked  at  him  with  interest. 
What  was  there  peculiar  in  his  case  that  called  the 


300  HARD  LIFE  IN  'tSE  COLONIES. 

attention  of  so  curious  and  clever  a  man  as  Dr. 
Fernnoh  ? 

While  I  was  standing  there  Hogg  came  in. 

"  Has  the  doctor  been  ?  "  were  his  first  words. 

"  Yes,  but  why  did  you  get  such  a  man  as  that  ?  " 

"  Because  he's  the  cleverest  doctor  anywhere  by 
a  long  shot.  Why,  was  he  angry  ?  Isn't  the  case 
serious  ?  "  asked  Hogg,  anxiously. 

"  Serious  enough,  I  dare  say,"  I  replied,  gloomily; 
"he's  coming  again  this  evening." 

"  Then  he's  safe,"  said  my  landlord,  looking  at 
Gilbert,  who  began  to  toss  and  mutter  angrily,  as 
though  protesting  against  any  interference. 

I  did  not  know  what  to  do.  With  the  help  of 
necessary  medicines  I  had  brought  him  round 
before,  and  I  somewhat  resented  his  being  taken 
out  of  my  hands  in  this  cool  way.  In  spite  of  what 
I  had  heard  of  Dr.  Fernnoh,  I  resolved  to  tell  him 
that  evening  that  I  would  cure  my  friend  myself, 
pay  him  what  I  owed,  and  be  free.  I  found  that  I 
had  counted  without — Dr.  Fernnoh. 

He  came  again  early  in  the  evening,  and  sitting 
down  by  Gilbert's  side  began  to  talk  to  him.  The 
medicine  he  had  ordered  had  been  almost  miraculous 
in  its  effect,  and  my  friend  was  calm  and  nearly 
without  fever. 

The  old  doctor,  with  great  skill,  got  at  all  our 
past  lives,  and  Gilbert's,  before  we  had  met,  of  what 
nationality  he  was,  who  were  his  parents,  in  what 
station  of  life — in  fact  everything  that  could  in  the 
least  help  his  understanding  of  the  illness. 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  301 

The  talk  ended,  the  doctor  took  from  his  pocket 
a  small  case  of  instruments,  which  he  opened,  and 
ordered  me  to  bring  a  basin  of  warm  water. 

11  Now  is  my  time,"  thought  I ;  and  not  without 
a  tremor  of  nervousness  I  asked  what  he  was 
going  to  do. 

A  broad  stare  and  an  imperious  repetition  of  the 
order  was  all  the  answer  I  got. 

"  Because,"  I  said,  hastily,  "  now  that  my  friend 
has  so  far  recovered  there  is  no  longer  any  need  for 
a  doctor's  attendance.  I  have  seen  him  like  this 
often,  and  know  what  to  do.  So  if  you  will  kindly 

tell  me  your  fee,  and  go "  I  finished  lamely, 

disconcerted  by  the  fixedness  of  Dr.  Fernnoh's 
sharp,  dark  eyes,  which  seemed  to  gauge  my  very 
soul. 

"  A  basin  of  warm  water  at  once,"  he  hissed  out, 
tossing  back  his  gr^ey  locks  and  flourishing  the 
steel  instrument  in  his  hand  as  though  he  would 
like  to  stick  it  into  my  heart. 

Gilbert,  who  had  been  silent  until  now,  raised 
himself  up  and  said,  "  Dunbar  is  right,  doctor.  I 
don't  need  any  operation  of  any  sort,  and  what's 
more  I  won't  have  it.  By  to-morrow  I  shall  be  all 
right." 

Dr.  Fernnoh  picked  up  his  old  hat  and  walked 
out  of  the  room. 

"  Thank  Heaven  !  "  I  ejaculated,  piously ;  but  my 
gratitude  was  premature.  In  less  than  a  minute 
the  doctor  returned  with  a  basin  of  warm  water  in 
his  hands. 


302  HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

In  spite  of  my  angry  protestations,  and  Gilbert's 
more  feeble  ones,  he  reopened  part  of  the  wound 
and  sewed  it  up  again  with  wonderful  dexterity  and 
quickness ;  then  giving  the  patient  a  few  drops  of 
some  opal-coloured  liquid  in  a  glass  of  water,  he 
said,  "  Go  on  with  the  medicine.  Will  come  to- 
morrow," and  shuffled  away  as  before. 

Gilbert  was  feverish  and  uneasy  all  night,  but 
undoubtedly  the  wound  had  been  clumsily  sewn 
up  by  the  army  surgeon ;  it  rapidly  healed  now, 
and  before  five  days  were  over  he  was  out  of  all 
danger. 

The  old  doctor  had  come  morning  and  evening, 
had  changed  the  medicine,  had  chatted  pleasantly 
with  Gilbert,  and  treated  me  with  a  contemptuous 
scorn  that  made  my  blood  boil. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fifth  day  he  said  to  Gilbert, 
"  I  shall  not  come  again — you  are  cured;  "  adding, 
in  a  tone  of  regret,  "  I  thought  the  case  would  have 
been  more  interesting." 

"  Will  he  be  able  to  travel  in  a  week's  time  ?  "  I 
ventured  to  ask ;  but  he  turned  his  back  on  me,  and 
said  to  Gilbert — 

"  You  are  cured,  for  the  time,  but  you  will  always 
be  subject  to  attacks  of  fever  following  any  excite- 
ment or  worry.  The  sea  voyage  next  week  is 
good,"  and  he  began  to  shuffle  out  of  the  room, 
when  Gilbert  said — 

"  As  I  may  not  see  you  again,  may  I  ask  what  I 
am  indebted  to  you  ?  " 

"  Nothing,"  was  the  short  reply. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  303 

"  But  I  can't  allow "  began  Gilbert,  when 

he  was  stopped  by  an  outburst  of  rage  from  the 
doctor,  who  fairly  danced  with  passion — a  grotesque 
figure  he  cut,  too,  with  his  ragged  clothes  and  old 
hat. 

"At  least  let  me  thank  you,"  said  my  friend, 
struggling  to  keep  from  a  burst  of  laughter. 

Dr.  Fernnoh  spat  out  a  volley  of  obscene  and 
blasphemous  words  and  left  the  room  ;  nor  did  we 
ever  see  him  again.  I  heard  some  years  after  that 
he  had  died  of  blood-poisoning,  caught  in  attending 
some  bad  case,  which  he  had  treated  in  a  new 
way.  The  remedy  cured  his  patient  but  killed 
himself. 

The  days  passed  on.  Gilbert  recovered  with 
wonderful  rapidity,  thanks  to  Dr.  Fernnoh.  We 
bought  some  necessary  clothes,  packed  them  in  as 
small  a  compass  as  possible,  and  one  fine  morning 
bade  good-bye  to  Hogg,  not  without  regret,  for  he 
was  a  good,  honest  fellow,  a  rara  avis  that  one 
seldom  comes  across,  and  went  on  board  the  Arrow, 
bound  for  Sydney. 

We  did  not  intend  to  stop  there,  having  decided 
to  try  the  Sandwich  Islands,  though  what  line  of 
life  we  meant  to  follow  we  had  as  yet  no  idea. 
One  advantage  in  being  Jack-of-all-trades,  no  work, 
of  whatever  sort  it  might  be,  could  come  amiss  to 
us. 

The  voyage  was  a  pleasant  little  time  of  rest, 
during  which  we  tried  not  to  allow  our  thoughts  to 
dwell  too  much,  on  the  past,  but  looked  forward 


804  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

with  hopeful  hearts  to  the  future.  The  weather 
was  lovely,  the  sea  neither  too  rough  nor  too  calm, 
but  fresh  and  sparkling.  No  adventure  of  any  sort 
happened,  for  which  I  must  confess  I  felt  glad. 
One  gets  somewhat  weary  of  adventures  as  time 
goes  on,  and  were  it  not  for  the  occasional  "  rests  " 
on  the  road  of  life,  would  find  it  a  difficult  matter 
to  get  up  even  a  semblance  of  interest  over  a  wreck 
or  a  shark  or  an  encounter  with  a  rattlesnake. 

One  interesting  and  amusing  incident  came 
under  my  notice  which  may  be  worth  relating. 
Among  the  passengers  was  a  young  lady  who  was 
going  to  Sydney  under  the  care  of  her  guardian 
and  his  son.  Everything  gets  known  about  every- 
body on  board  ship,  and  it  was  soon  an  open  secret 
that  Miss  Merton  was  engaged  to  young  Mr. 
Tullock.  She  was  a  tiny  little  thing,  with  large, 
round,  blue  eyes,  and  short,  yellow,  curly  hair. 
Every  man  on  board  was  at  her  wee  feet — or  would 
have  been  had  she  not  been  so  safely  and  jealously 
guarded  by  Messrs.  Tullock,  pere  etfils. 

Mr.  Tullock,  senior,  was  immense,  tall,  broad, 
and  stout ;  he  carried  his  sixty  odd  years  very  well, 
but  he  was  decidedly  ugly  and  painfully  nervous, 
while  his  awkwardness  when  attempting  any  little 
act  of  courtesy  towards  his  ward  would  make  the 
proverbial  bull  in  a  china-shop  blush  with  spite  at 
being  so  much  outdone.  Mr.  Tullock,  junior,  was 
also  tall,  broad,  and  stout,  ugly  too — but  there 
the  resemblance  between  father  and  son  ceased,  for 
if  the  one  was  conspicuous  by  his  diffidence  and 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  805 

modesty,  the  overweening  conceit  and  vanity  of 
the  other  was  a  thing  to  marvel  at,  given  to  him, 
perhaps,  for  the  perfecting  of  his  ugliness.  It  was 
curious  to  watch  the  three,  the  young  man  on  one 
side  of  his  lady-love  talking  in  a  loud,  self-satisfied 
tone,  generally  about  himself,  the  old  man  the 
other  side,  carrying  the  stool  and  shawls  and 
cushion  and  all  the  rest  of  the  paraphernalia  with- 
out which  a  lady  seems  unable  to  admire  the  view 
of  sky  and  sea  on  board  ship. 

Gilbert  soon  made  friends  with  Miss  Merton, 
and,  despite  the  scowls  and  frowns  of  Mr.  Tullock, 
junior,  contrived  to  pass  some  very  pleasant  hours, 
and  found  out,  or  thought  he  did,  something  about 
the  state  of  the  little  lady's  heart. 

"  I'm  sure  she  doesn't  like  that  great  hulking 
lump  of  conceit,"  he  told  me  one  day.  "  I  believe 
it's  a  simple  plot  got  up  by  the  father  and  son 
to  force  her  to  marry  the  young  one  in  order  to 
keep  the  money." 

"  Mr.  Tullock,  senior,  has  no  look  of  the  cruel 
or  wicked  guardian  about  him,"  I  protested,  look- 
ing across  the  deck  where  the  old  man,  laden  as 
usual,  was  walking  by  his  ward  and  gazing  at  her 
with  open  admiration  and  affection,  which  she 
appeared  to  take  very  much  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

"  Of  course  he  would  hide  it,"  persisted  Gilbert. 
"  It's  my  firm  opinion  that  she  is  frightened  out 
of  her  life  between  the  two  of  them,"  and  my 
friend,  who  is  rather  inflammable,  sighed  deeply, 

21 


806  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES'. 

At  that  moment  came  to  us  distinctly,  in  Miss1 
Merton's  clear,  bird-like  voice — 

"  Most  decidedly  not ;  I  won't  have  it  !  "  and  the 
old  man's  meek  reply,  "Very  well,  my  dear,  as 
you  like,  of  course." 

I  looked  at  Gilbert,  and  we  both  went  off  into  a 
fit  of  laughing.  The  little  lady  heard  us,  called  us 
up,  and  requested  to  know  the  reason  of  our  mirth. 
You  may  be  quite  sure  we  neither  of  us  intended 
to  tell  her,  yet  somehow  before  five  minutes  had 
passed  she  had  got  it  out  of  us.  I  beat  a  hasty 
retreat  when  I  found  I  was  losing,  leaving  Gilbert 
to  get  out  of  it  the  best  way  he  could.  Mr. 
Tullock  joined  me,  and  began  to  talk  of  his  ward  : 
she  was  an  orphan  daughter  of  an  old  friend  of  his ; 
that  his  son  should  marry  her  had  always  been 
understood. 

"  Are  they  engaged  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Yes,  they  always  have  been  ?  " 

"It  is  a  love-match  then,  I  suppose?  "  I  went 
on,  feeling  very  wily  and  fox- like. 

"  No  one  could  know  May  without  loving  her," 
said  Mr.  Tullock,  with  such  fervour  that,  looking 
into  his  face,  I  read  his  secret.  He,  too,  loved  his 
ward.  Poor  man,  niy  heart  ached  for  him. 

Now,  Miss  Merton  had  a  pet  dog,  one  of  those 
toy  terriers,  with  eyes  darting  out  of  their  head, 
and  always  shivering  and  whimpering.  His  diges- 
tion was  bad,  which  affected  his  temper,  and  he 
snapped  and  snarled  at  every  one  who  went  near 
him.  Still,  as  it  was  the  only  way  to  his  mistress's 


&A&D  LfFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  30f 

Smiles,  all  the  men  on  board  (I  except  myself) 
made  great  asses  of  themselves,  and  got  up  a  fervent 
interest  in  Beau's  state  of  health  that  forced  them 
to  be  always  inquiring  for  him.  I  excepted  my- 
self. I  should  also  have  excepted  Mr.  Alexander 
Tullock,  between  whom  and  Beau  existed  a  deadly 
and  deep  hatred.  This  unchristian-like  feeling  he 
dared  not  show  before  his  lady-love,  for  she  had 
a  way  of  flashing  out  a  look  of  scorn  or  anger  from 
her  blue  eyes  that  made  even  the  great  Mr. 
Alexander  Tullock  feel  small. 

One  morning  the  little  lady  came  on  deck  early, 
her  guardian  only  with  her,  as  Mr.  Alexander 
was  doubtless  engaged  in  donning  one  of  the 
wonderful  nautical  suits  wherein  he  loved  to  array 
himself.  The  old  gentleman  having  comfortably 
settled  her,  took  up  the  dog  to  place  on  her  lap, 
when,  how  it  happened  no  one  can  tell,  perhaps 
the  sudden  apparition  of  his  hated  enemy  in  all  the 
glories  of  a  blue  and  white  costume  was  the  cause, 
but  Beau  sprang  out  of  Mr.  Tullock's  arms  and 
went  plump  into  the  sea. 

What  a  commotion  !  Miss  Merton  screamed. 
I  shouted  "  Man  overboard  !  "  without  thinking,  the 
cry  was  repeated,  the  man  at  the  wheel  brought 
the  Arrow  to  a  standstill,  and  all  was  bustle  and 
confusion. 

"  Save  my  dog !  oh,  save  my  dog  !  "  cried  Miss 
Merton,  rushing  distractedly  to  the  side  of  the 
vessel, 

"  He'll  be  saved  all  right,"  said  her  lover,  draw- 


308  HAlfD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

ing  her  away ;  and  turning  to  one  of  the  sailors 
said,  in  a  tone  of  haughty  command,  "  Save  the 
dog." 

"  Sha'n'tfor  your  telling,"  said  the  man,  moving 
away  to  where  a  boat  was  being  lowered  to  pick  up 
the  struggling  Beau,  who  was  frantically  beating 
the  water  some  little  distance  off. 

"  He's  drowning,"  shrieked  Miss  Merton.  "  Oh, 
do  make  haste,  some  one,  and  save  him !  " 

A  sudden  splash  was  heard.  Mr.  Tullock  had 
jumped  in  after  the  dog — Mr.  Tullock,  senior,  not 
Mr.  Tullock,  junior  !  That  worthy  was  engaged 
in  the  sweet  office  of  trying  to  soothe  the  young 
lady,  who  on  hearing  the  plunge  and  learning  wrho 
had  attempted  the  rescue  of  her  pet  became  more 
wildly  excited  than  ever. 

Now  comes  the  cream  of  the  story.  There  being 
not  the  slightest  danger,  for  the  boat  was  quickly 
lowered  and  manned,  we  could  enjoy  the  grotesque 
sight  of  the  huge  Mr.  Tullock  sporting  himself  in 
the  water  like  some  mighty  porpoise.  But  the 
comedy  nearly  turned  into  a  tragedy.  The  poor 
old  gentleman  had  not  long  finished  his  breakfast, 
and  the  sudden  plunge  into  the  sea  gave  a  shock 
to  the  nervous  system  and  brought  on  a  sort  of 
fit.  He  was  hauled  into  the  boat  with  the  dripping 
and  exhausted  Beau,  and  both  were  laid  on  the  deck. 

I  happened  to  be  standing  near  Miss  Merton 
when  it  was  seen  that  Mr.  Tullock,  for  some  reason 
or  other,  was  sinking.  She  saw  it  too,  and  sprang 
forward  with  a  cry. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  309 

"Don't  fear,  darling,"  says  Mr.  Alexander,  "I 
am  near  you."  But  she  turned  upon  him,  a  very 
Titania  of  furies,  and,  stamping  her  tiny  foot,  cried 
passionately — 

"  G-o  away.     I  hate  you  !  " 

And  I  must  say  for  her,  that  she  looked  as  if  she 
meant  it. 

Observing  that  I  had  both  seen  and  heard  this 
little  incident,  Mr.  Alexander  muttered  some- 
thing about  nerves  out  of  order,  and  moved  away 
towards  where  the  boat  was  coming  with  his 
father  and  the  cur  on  board.  Miss  Merton  and 
I  followed,  but  when  Mr.  Tullock  was  lifted  on 
deck  and  she  saw  he^  was  insensible,  she  flew  to 
his  side  and,  throwing  herself  on  her  knees, 
sobbed  out,  "  Eichard,  if  you  are  dead,  I  shall 
die  too  ! " 

The  reader  has  doubtless  remarked  that  Mr. 
Tullock,  junior,  was  named  by  his  godfathers  and 
godmother,  Alexander.  I  sought  my  friend's  eye, 
and  we  exchanged  a  significant  glance.  Mr. 
Tullock  soon  recovered,  and  retired  to  his  cabin 
to  put  on  dry  clothes;  his  son  sulked  in  a  chair 
on  deck,  while  Miss  Merton,  wiping  and  drying 
her  restored  pet,  talked  nervously  to  Gilbert  and 
me. 

Soon  old  Mr.  Tullock  appeared,  and,  after  we 
had  congratulated  him  on  his  heroic  deed,  Gilbert 
and  I  discreetly  withdrew. 

The  next  day  it  was  known  that  Miss  Merton 
was  engaged  to  Mr,  Tullock,  senior,  having  asked; 


810  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

him  herself — so  said  rumour.  At  any  rate  they 
were  simply  a  delicious  couple  to  see,  their  happi- 
ness in  each  other  being  so  very  apparent. 

"I  cannot  realize  it,"  said  the  old  gentleman 
to  me  one  evening  as  we  paced  up  and  down, 
smoking.  (CI  feel  as  if  it  were  wicked  of  me  to 
allow  her  to  sacrifice  herself  so,  but  she  will,  and 
what  can  I  do  ?  " 

"  Nothing,"  I  answered,  quoting  those  lines  of 
the  old  poet,  who  tells  us — 


"  That  man's  a  fool,  who  thinks  by  force  or  skill 
To  stem  the  torrent  of  a  woman's  will." 


Mr.  Alexander  Tullock  did  not  seem  to  enjoy 
the  new  state  of  things  as  much  as  his  father  and 
future  mamma,  which  perhaps  is  not  astonishing. 
It  was  highly  diverting  to  observe  the  little  airs  of 
wisdom,  and  to  hear  the  sage  pieces  of  maternal 
advice  that  she  employed  towards  her  future  son. 
One  thing  is  sure,  although  it  is,  I  know,  the 
custom  to  cry  out  against  the  union  of  May  and 
December,  the  little  lady  had  a  far  better  chance 
of  happiness  from  the  large-hearted,  kindly  old 
man  than  she  could  ever  have  hoped  for  from  the 
selfish,  vain,  and  conceited  young  one. 

This  little  domestic  drama  made  a  very  pleasing 
diversion  in  the  monotony  of  life  on  board  ship ; 
beyond  that  nothing  happened  of  any  interest,  and 
in  due  time  we  entered  the  harbour  of  the  great 
pity  of  Sydney, 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  311 

We  had  plenty  of  time  to  become  well  ac- 
quainted with  that  city,  for  we  found  we  were 
obliged  to  wait  two  months,  as  the  new  line  of 
boats  had  not  commenced  to  run  to  San  Francisco. 

I  shall  not  describe  our  stay  in  Sidney,  or  our 
voyage  to  'Frisco,  as  nothing  of  particular  interest 
happened. 

We  landed  at  'Frisco,  and  were  immediately 
taken  possession  of  by  a  "Looter,"  who  brought 
us  to  the  Marhattar  House,  a  lodging-house  in  the 
part  of  'Frisco  that  went  by  the  name  of  the 
"Barbary  Court."  This  said  "Court"  is  the 
habitat  of  all  sorts  of  bad  characters,  night  birds 
of  the  worst  sort ;  but  the  house  was  clean,  a  good 
table  was  kept,  and  the  beds  not  more  densely 
populated  than  is  usual.  Being  travellers,  we 
could  not  well  object  to  these  nightly  companions, 
so  there  we  stayed,  spending  the  days  seeking 
employment,  which  was  as  hard  to  find  as  is  water 
in  the  Sahara. 

With  the  recollection  of  our  New  Zealand 
experiences,  we  husbanded  our  little  hoard,  not 
spending  even  what  was  necessary,  and  searching 
for  work  with  a  feverish  desire  quickened  by 
despair. 

It  was  useless  striving  against  fate;  again  one 
day  we  found  ourselves  utterly  destitute.  No 
work,  no  money,  hungry  and  thirsty,  our  souls 
fainted  within  us,  wandering  to  and  fro,  with  that 
great  gaunt  spectre  Despair  ever  accompanying  us. 
Qh?  tho.se  weeks  that  followed ! — let  me  pass  them 


812  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

over  with  as  few  words  as  possible,  We  haunted 
the  wharves,  and  now  and  then,  by  a  rare  stroke 
of  luck,  got  a  little  work  in  unloading ;  on  those 
days  we  could  buy  a  ten  cent  loaf  of  bread,  and 
seek  some  silent  place  to  eat  it,  washing  it  down 
with  water  from  a  horse  trough.  Again  and  again 
we  have  frequented  the  quays  to  gather  up  some 
grains  of  Indian  corn  lying  about,  in  order  to 
satisfy  our  hunger,  for  in  that  city  we  and  hun- 
dreds of  others  were  literally  dying  by  inches  of 
starvation.  We  would  have  worked  day  and 
night ;  but  no,  the  Chinese  were  preferred,  the 
Europeans  rejected.  No  wonder  the  workmen 
hate  these  yellow,  crooked-eyed  vermin,  with  their 
clever  cunning  and  their  merciless  cruelty. 

I  applied  to  the  F.  and  A.  Masons,  in  the  hope 
that  some  of  them  would  give  or  get  me  work; 
they  could  not ;  all  in  their  power  they  did,  which 
was  to  give  me  lodgings  for  four  weeks. 

During  that  time  Gilbert  went  dish-washing  in 
a  hotel  in  2nd  Street ;  his  fellow-washer  was  a 
French  count !  But  the  constant  dabbling  in  hot 
soap-suds  blistered  his  hands  so  terribly  that  in  a 
very  short  time  he  could  not  use  them  at  all,  and 
was  obliged  to  give  up  a  business  that,  as  he 
confided  to  me  with  some  irritation,  more  dis- 
gusted him  than  anything  he  had  ever  yet 
undertaken  in  his  chequered  life.  His  next  work 
was  window-cleaning;  but  all  he  had  ever  done 
or  thought  of  doing  paled  before  the  revolting  and 
.disgusting  business  that  was  offered  to,  and  of 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  313 

course  accepted  by,  me.  Oh,  long  line  of  illus- 
trious ancestors,  how  would  your  venerable  hairs 
stand  upright  on  your  venerable  heads  could  you 
but  see  your  unfortunate  descendant  in  a  pork- 
packing  factory,  cleaning  out  the  shoots  which 
were  filled  with  the  guts  and  offal  from  the 
slaughter-house  !  These  had  been  accumulating 
for  over  twelve  months,  and  the  odour  emanating 
from  the  putrid  mass  had  better  be  neither 
described  or  imagined.  Allow  me  a  moment  to 
fill  my  pipe,  or  I  cannot  continue.  I  always  hated 
swine,  but  since  that  time  the  sight  of  a  pig  is 
enough  for  me  ;  never  from  that  day  to  this  has 
a  piece  of  pork  entered  my  lips,  and,  if  I  know 
myself,  it  never  will. 

Soon  the  pork-factory  "  bust  up,"  the  men  were 
discharged.  Thank  God  I  was  free  again,  with 
some  dollars  in  my  pocket.  I  persuaded  Gilbert 
without  much  difficulty  to  leave  his  enchanting 
work  of  window-cleaning,  for  I  had  heard  of  more 
congenial  employment  which  was  to  be  had, 
although  at  a  great  distance.  This  was  no  other 
than  road-making,  and  was  not  unknown  to  us 
as  we  had  helped  in  the  making  of  one  when 
privates  in  the  Rifle  Corps,  in  New  Zealand. 

We  did  not  decide  without  careful  consideration, 
for  the  road  required  was  over  in  Tennesse,  and 
led  to,  or  rather  was  to  lead  to,  the  Knoxville 
quicksilver  mines.  We  were  of  course  an  immense 
distance  off,  and  it  would  take  nearly  all  our 
money  to  get  there ;  yet,  as  nothing  turned  up  in 


814  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

'Frisco,  it  seemed  wiser  to  risk  our  all  for  a  cer- 
tainty than  to  remain  here  where  we  might  expend 
every  cent  we  possessed  before  having  a  chance  of 
adding  to  our  store.  Besides,  it  was  healthy  work 
in  the  open  air,  and  we  were  neither  of  us  long 
penned  up  in  a  city  without  pining  to  be  free. 
Placards  posted  all  over  certain  parts  of  'Frisco 
stated  that  numbers  of  able-bodied  men  were 
required  to  make  a  new  road  to  the  well-known 
quicksilver  mines  near  Knoxville. 

Accordingly  we  turned  our  backs  on  the  City  of 
the  G-olden  State  which  had  treated  us  so  shabbily, 
and,  with  that  hope  that  paints  the  future  fair,  set 
out  for  the  Napa  city  in  Tennesse. 

It  took  most  of  our  cash  in  hand  to  reach  Napa. 
Arriving  there,  we  were  told  that  our  destination 
was  a  two  days'  journey  farther  on,  and  we 
determined  to  do  it  on  foot,  although  much 
pressed  by  the  driver  of  a  coach  that  had  been 
set  up  expressly  to  bring  people  to  the  quicksilver 
mines.  We  thought  the  charges  exorbitant,  and 
much  preferred  "  footing  "  it. 

It  being  early  morning  when  we  arrived  at 
Napa,  we  only  went  far  enough  into  the  town 
to  find  an  eating-house,  where  we  replenished 
our  wallets,  and,  without  caring  farther  to  inspect 
a  town  that  looked  like,  other  towns  from  the 
cursory  glance  we  bestowed  upon  it,  asked  our 
way  to  Knoxville,  and  set  off  at  an  even  pace  of 
four  miles  an  hour. 

The   weather  was   beautiful,    and    the   country 


HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  315 

after  we  had  left  the  town  was  fertile  and  very 
picturesque.  Far  away  in  the  distance  we  could 
discern  the  peaks  of  the  Alleghany  or  Apalachian 
Mountains  rearing  themselves  against  the  bright 
blue  sky ;  a  branch  of  the  river  Clinch,  I  believe, 
ran  along  by  the  side  of  the  road  we  were 
following ;  it  was  not  much  more  than  a  stream, 
but  clear  and  limpid,  its  continuous  murmur  and 
occasional  babbling  being  delightful  to  hear. 

Very  enjoyable  was  that  first  day's  journey,  and 
when  night  came  on  we  lay  down  on  a  mossy 
bank,  with  the  gem-strewed  heavens  above  us, 
and  were  lulled  to  sleep  by  the  music  of  the  mur- 
muring river. 

We  were  up  betimes  the  next  morning. 
Eeversing  the  general  order  of  things,  we  un- 
dressed on  leaving  our  bed,  and  plunging  into  the 
river  had  a  glorious  swim ;  after  which  we  made 
a  hearty  breakfast,  with  more  regard  to  our 
appetites  than  to  the  quantity  of  food  that 
remained  in  our  wallets.  The  clear  air  intoxicated 
us,  and  the  cold  bath  made  us  as  hungry  as 
wolves ;  we  felt,  somehow,  as  though  we  had  come 
into  a  fortune  and  were  on  our  way  to  enjoy  it. 
Those  fits  of  wild  pleasure  are  as  curious  and  un- 
reasoning in  their  way  as  the  more  frequent  "  fits  of 
the  blues  "  with  which  most  people  are  acquainted  ; 
in  our  case  it  was  perhaps  given  to  us  to  make  the 
contrast  of  after-events  but  the  stronger,  with  which 
rather  grim  remark  I  will  "  git,"  as  the  Yankees 
say, 


316  EAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

On  the  evening  of  the  third  day  we  reached  the 
mines  ;  but,  it  being  late,  we  contented  ourselves 
with  finishing  the  remains  of  our  provisions,  and, 
seeking  the  shelter  of  a  friendly  tree,  slept  the 
sleep  of  the  just. 

The  next  morning  we  went  up  to  the  mining 
offices  to  make  inquiries  about  work.  These 
buildings,  of  a  fair  size,  though  shabby  in  ap- 
pearance, were  some  distance  from  the  mine  itself — 
a  very  necessary  precaution  with  any  work  con- 
nected with  that  valuable  but  deadly  fluid-metal, 
quicksilver.  We  stated  to  the  first  clerk  we  came 
across,  our  object  in  coming  to  Knoxville,  and 
asked  to  whom  we  were  to  apply.  With  a  grin 
that  foreboded  no  good  he  referred  us  to  the  next 
office,  who  sent  us  to  a  third,  where  we  were  told 
calmly  and  coolly  that  no  road  was  to  be  made  yet. 

The  management  of  the  place  we  soon  dis- 
covered was  one  huge  swindle,  got  up  by  a 
company  as  dishonest  as  it  was  discreditable. 
Started  at  a  time  when  all  the  world  seemed 
infatuated  with  the  spirit  of  gambling,  for  it  was 
nothing  else,  the  heads  of  this  concern  followed  the 
example  of  hundreds  of  others,  with,  however,  more 
truth  than  many,  for  quicksilver  was  found  here, 
and  in  not  inconsiderable  quantities,  and  advertised 
themselves  widely.  Trusting  to  the  blind  ardour 
and  spirit  of  speculation  in  the  public  they 
announced,  in  magniloquent  language,  the  glorious 
find  they  had  made,  and  talked  of  their  millions  of 
capital  (flourishing  for  the  most  part  only  OQ 


'LIFE  'IN  TEE  COLONIES.  317 

paper),  inviting  inspection,  and  guaranteeing  large 
profits. 

But  to  return  to  ourselves.  The  story  of  a  road 
being  needed  was  a  mere  invention  made  up  to 
induce  workmen  to  come  to  the  place.  Once  on 
the  spot  they  are  sometimes  persuaded  to  stay  as 
miners,  rather  than  have  their  journey  for  nothing. 
Indeed  in  most  cases  they  are  obliged  to  remain, 
having  expended  all  their  ready  money  in  coming 
so  great  a  distance.  A  fiendish  piece  of  policy  on 
the  part  of  the  Company  to  placard  their  pretended 
want  of  men  for  road-making  at  such  an  immense 
distance,  which  virtually  prevented  any  immediate 
return  of  the  workmen. 

Other  tricks  they  had  also  that  spoke  well  of 
their  ingenuity.  For  instance,  if  you  tramp  there 
(as  we  did)  and  do  not  take  a  seat  in  the 
Company's  coach  at  $500  a  head,  they  are  down 
on  you  with  contempt.  Then  they  require  $300 
for  poll  tax,  besides  a  couple  of  dollars  for  school 
tax;  like  the  horse-leech's  daughter  their  cry  is 
ever,  "  Give,  give  !  " 

Gladly  would  we  have  turned  our  backs  on 
Knoxville  quicksilver  mines,  had  it  been  possible ; 
but  having  spent  most  of  our  money  in  getting  here 
we  must  make  some  more  before  we  could  hope  to 
get  away. 

The  slenderness  of  our  purses  being  so  painfully 
apparent  to  the  lynx-eyed  Company  (for,  needless 
to  say,  we  were  unable  to  pour  out  dollars  for  poll 
tax,  or  school  tax,  or  any  other  tux),  the  only 


818  HAUL  LIFE  Iff  THE  COLONIES.- 

work  offered  to  us  was  the  most  dangerous  and:  irl 
which  department  they  had  the  fewest  men. 

Until  I  came  to  the  mine  I  knew  very  little 
about  quicksilver,  but  although  I  stayed  but  a 
short  time  I  knew  more  than  enough  to  please  me. 
A  few  words  about  it,  however,  may  not  be  unin- 
teresting. This  mercury,  or  quicksilver,  is  always 
found  in  the  strata  of  secondary  formations,  and  is 
distinguished  from  all  other  metals  by  its  extreme 
fusibility,  for  it  does  not  become  solid  until  cooled 
to  the  39th  degree  below  0,  Fahrenheit.  It  is  not 
only  found  in  cinnabar,  a  red  sulphuret  of 
mercury,  but  in  other  ores,  and  sometimes  in  a 
quite  fluid  and  pure  state  in  an  accidental  cavity 
of  hard  stone.  Its  power  is  very  great,  for  it 
penetrates  parts  of  all  other  metals,  making  them 
brittle  and  even  dissolving  some.  The  ore  found 
here  was  amber  in  colour,  a  pretty  crystalline 
matter  mixed  frequently  with  stone  and  other 
extraneous  substances,  all  which  impurities  are 
chipped  off,  facetiously  called  "cherry  picking." 
Very  strong  and  long-continued  heat  is  necessary, 
for  which  purpose  immense  kilns  are  kept  heated 
up  to  a  certain  temperature,  which  heat,  combined 
with  the  fumes  of  the  mercury,  makes  working  in 
these  parts  of  the  mines  so  dangerous. 

Dangerous  or  not  we  could  not  refuse,  the 
money  offered  to  us  being  in  fair  proportion  to  the 
risk,  so  we  determined  to  try  it,  for  anything  was 
better  than  to  return  penniless  to  the  scene  of  our 
late  troubles. 


HAUL  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  310 

Gilbert's  work,  bad  as  it  was,  was  not  so  deadly 
in  its  effect  as  mine.  He  was  set  to  fix  and  clear 
out  one  of  the  reverberatory  furnaces  that  were 
employed  in  the  process  of  refining  or  cupellation. 
Curious  furnaces  these  were,  the  lower  part  being 
covered  with  wood  ashes  and  clay  in  order  to 
form  a  cupel,  a  shallow  chemical  vessel  in  which 
the  assay-masters  try  the  metal.  On  one  side  of 
the  furnace  there  is  a  hole  for  the  exit  of  the 
litharge,  on  the  opposite  side  another  hole  for  the 
admission  of  air  to  the  surface  of  the  metal,  which 
is  introduced  through  an  aperture  above,  to  which 
a  cover  is  fitted.  This  particular  one  required 
some  cleansing,  and  that  my  friend  was  requested 
to  do  ;  I  was  told  I  should  have  a  room  to  clean 
out,  and  followed  my  guide,  feeling  sorry  Gilbert 
had  not  my  good  luck. 

My  sorrow,  however,  was  soon  changed  into 
thankfulness,  for  as  we  neared  the  place,  gaunt, 
grey  spectres  of  men  were  moving  about, 
looking  scarcely  human.  My  guide  stopping  to 
give  some  directions  to  a  group  of  them,  one  of 
the  party  came  up  to  me  and  in  a  hollow  voice 
warned  me  not  to  attempt  to  work  here. 

I  looked  at  the  man ;  he  appeared  about  sixty  and 
was  bent  nearly  double  ;  but  what  struck  me  most 
was  his  face — it  was  livid  in  hue,  and  so  lean  that 
the  skin  seemed  stretched  over  the  bones  until  I 
wondered  it  did  not  crack,  his  eyes  sunk  into  their 
sockets  gave  him  a  still  more  ghastly  look,  in  fact 
a  corpse  buried  and  dug  up  again  is  the  only  simile 


320  ^HAED  IXF'E  IN  THE  VOIA>mE8. 

I  can  •  choose  to  express  the  effect  this  man  gave 
one. 

"Do  not  go  there,"  he  said,  earnestly,  pointing 
with  a  skinny,  trembling  finger  to  a  block  of 
buildings  a  little  distance  off;  "  no  money  is  worth 
it." 

"I  am  only  going  to  clean  out  a  room,"  I 
assured  him  ;  "  but  you,  can  you  find  nothing  else 
to  do,  old  and  ill  as  you  are  ?  " 

"  Old,"  he  answered,  with  a  bitter  laugh ;  "  I  am 
a  younger  man  in  years  than  you,  I  bet,  for  all  I 
carry  rny  forty-three  years  so  badly.  But  this  is 
not  the  first  time  I  have  worked  at  those  furnaces 
there,  and  I  tell  you  no  money  is  worth  it." 

"  Then  why  do  you  do  it  ?  " 

"  If  you  care  to  know  come  to  my  hut,  that  one 
that  lies  down  yonder  apart  from  the  rest,  and  I 
will  show  you.  But  for  you,  don't  do  it — no  money 
is  worth  it,"  he  repeated  for  the  third  time. 

"  Go  to  h 11,"  said  my  guide  brutally,  who  had 

come  up  and  heard  his  last  sentence. 

"  I  have  been  there,  and  come  out  again — all 
that  is  left  of  me,"  was  the  mournful  reply,  as  the 
man  moved  slowly  away  in  an  opposite  direction. 

"He  needn't  complain,  I'm  sure,"  grumbled  my 
cicerone,  "  he's  got  his  pockets  full  of  dollars,  and 
after  all  has  only  been  here  five  days  this  time." 

Five  days,  and  looked  like  that !  a  man  of  forty- 
three  !  A  cold  shiver  passed  over  me. 

"  They  call  him  '  Mercury  Jack,'  "  volunteered 
my  companion,  "  and  he's  a  queer  fish,  always 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  321 

coming  back  here  and  always  abusing  the  place ; 
now  I  don't  call  that  acting  quite  on  the  square, 
do  you  ?  " 

"  That  depends  greatly  on  how  he  is  treated,"  I 
replied,  "for  sometimes  it  happens  that  big  mining 
companies  don't  act  quite  on  the  square  with  their 
workmen." 

My  friend  made  no  reply — perhaps  because  we 
had  reached  the  place  over  whose  portals  might 
surely  be  written  Dante's  words  : 

"  Abandon  hope,  all  ye  who  enter  here." 

My  guide  quickly  told  me  what  I  was  to  do, 
pushed  open  the  door,  and — bolted.  I  was  in  a 
large  condensing  chamber  completely  saturated 
with  mercury.  It  needed  cleaning,  certainly,  and 
I  doggedly  cleaned  it,  and,  what  is  more,  came  out 
alive,  neither  crippled  nor  disabled,  but  feeling 
weak,  sick,  weary,  worn-out,  and  hopeless. 

In  these  condensing  chambers  no  man  ever  stays 
more  than  a  few  days ;  they  are  always  coming  and 
always  going  ;  coming,  fairly  strong  and  healthy ; 
going,  decrepit,  broken  down,  and  ill. 

After  I  had  emerged  alive  from  the  mercury 
chamber  I  was  set  to  tend  the  kilns,  i.e.,  keep  the 
fires  at  full  blaze,  technically  called  "feeding  the 
mouths."  This  is  done  by  stoving  in  huge  logs  of 
oak  into  the  kilns,  each  log  taking  three  men  to 
raise  and  push  in. 

Gilbert  and  I  took  lodgings  in  a  little  hut  built 
up  of  wood,  of  which  there  were  a  good  many 


822  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

dotted  about,  and  a  woman,  wife  of  one  of  the 
miners,  "did"  for  us,  as  they  call  it.  She  certainly 
did  do  for  us  in  more  ways  than  one,  but  we  were 
at  her  mercy,  and  could  say  nothing.  One  thing 
she  did  well,  I  must  allow — she  made  a  rabbit  stew 
better  than  any  one  I  have  ever  known  ;  still,  good 
as  that  was  in  its  way,  it  did  not  make  up  for  all 
the  discomfort  she  put  us  to ;  she  was  dirt  per- 
sonified, talked  like — no,  I  can  find  no  simile, 
and  being  of  a  lachrymose  turn,  favoured  us  with 
long  and  watery  accounts  of  all  her  troubles.  She 
was  a  huge  woman,  with  unkempt  hair  and  a 
decided  moustache,  of  which,  far  from  being  dis- 
tressed at,  she  gloried  in,  smoothing  it  down  and 
caressing  it  with  all  the  pride  of  a  young  man  who, 
after  long  watching  and  careful  shaving,  welcomes 
at  last  the  few  soft  hairs  that  he  twists  and  tor- 
ments until  he  thinks  that  he  has  proved  to  all 
the  world  that  he  has  that  much-longed-for  adorn- 
ment on  his  upper  lip.  But  I  am  forgetting  the 
fair  Ophelia  Cox,  who  "  did  for  "  several  other  men 
besides  ourselves,  going  from  hut  to  hut,  cooking 
the  meals  that  she  left  ready  on  the  fire,  and 
"smoothing  over"  the  beds,  as  she  described  it. 
Gilbert  and  I  always  made  ours  ourselves;  the 
mere  thought  that  they  had  been  touched  by  that 
creature  would  have  driven  away  the  gentle  god 
from  our  pillows.  Her  attire  was  as  remarkable  as 
all  the  rest.  To  begin  at  the  end,  she  wore  a  pair 
of  Wellington  boots  that  had  long  since  seen  their 
best  days,  and  that  formerly  encased  the  feet  and 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  323 

legs  of  "as  fine  a  gent  as  ever  put  foot  to  ground." 
Stockings  she  dispensed  with  altogether,  she  volun- 
teering this  interesting  piece  of  information  herself. 
Certainly,  I  should  never  have  dreamed  of  asking, 
but  she  did  not  sin  by  too  much  reticence  at  any 
time,  or  on  any  subject.  A  short  petticoat  that 
had  once  been  scarlet,  but  was  now,  by  time  and 
stains,  turned  into  patches  of  all  colours,  was 
surmounted  by  a  man's  rough  pilot  jacket,  a  blue 
checked  neckcloth,  tied  iu  a  knot  around  her 
throat,  and  a  billycock  hat  completed  a  costume 
that  did  not  err  on  the  side  of  elegance. 

I  forgot  two  long,  deep  bags  or  pockets  that  she 
wore,  one  on  each  side  of  her.  These  pockets, 
empty  when  she  left  her  own  hut  in  the  morning, 
had  a  way  of  getting  filled  as  the  day  advanced, 
and  she  returned  in  the  evening  bulging  out  right 
and  left,  like  a  donkey  with  panniers. 

She  had  a  husband  who  worked  in  the  mines, 
"a  poor  mess,"  as  she  graphically  described  him. 
No  need  for  me  to  enlarge  on  Jabez  Cox  after  that 
terse  and  comprehensive  delineation  of  him  by  his 
better  half;  and  also  six  children  of  doubtful 
parentage,  to  fill  whose  ever  hungry  mouths  she 
"  did  for  "  the  various  men  around. 

Among  her  victims  was  "  Mercury  Jack,"  and 
one  day,  very  shortly  after  we  were  there,  my  work 
for  the  day  being  over  before  Gilbert's,  I  thought  I 
would  go  down  to  his  hut  and  see  him,  for  some- 
how he  had  interested  me. 

A  short  walk  past  the  straggling  houses  and 


324  HARD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

huts  that  formed  the  village,  if  it  could  be  so 
called,  brought  me  to  the  outskirts  of  a  small 
wood,  where,  quite  alone,  stood  a  tiny  hut.  The 
little  plot  of  ground  in  front  had  at  one  time  been 
laid  out  as  a  sort  of  flower  garden,  and  there  were 
still  some  rose-bushes,  and  a  few  plants.  No  one 
was  in  sight,  but  the  door  being  open  I  went  up  to 
it  and  entered.  A  horrible  yet  pathetic  sight 
met  my  eyes.  Seated  on  a  low  stool,  swaying 
himself  to  and  fro,  and  piping  out  in  a  thin, 
quavering  voice  the  hymn,  "  Abide  with  me,"  was 
"  Mercury  Jack."  On  his  knees  lay  what  at  first 
sight  I  took  to  be  the  corpse  of  a  child,  but  dis- 
turbed by  my  footsteps,  both  turned  towards  me, 
and  then  I  saw  it  was  a  living  creature. 

The  child,  a  girl  of  some  thirteen  years,  was 
a  victim  of  the  most  virulent  form  of  scrofula ; 
many  of  the  bones  were  eroded,  and  ophthalmia 
had  done  its  work  with  hideous  malignity. 
"  Mercury  Jack  "  ceased  his  singing  as  I 
entered,  and,  inviting  me  to  sit  down  on  the 
only  chair  the  place  possessed,  said,  without 
further  preamble :  "  You  have  come  to  know 
why  I  work  in  the  mercury  chambers.  I  want 
money  for  Molly ;  it  will  take  a  lot  to  cure 
her,  but  we  are  on  the  road,  ain't  we,  Moll  ?  " 
and  he  bent  over  the  emaciated,  revolting  object  in 
his  arms,  and  passionately  kissed  the  top  of  her 
head. 

Bit  by  bit  he  told  me  his  story.  He  was  a 
Cornishman,  who  had  worked  in  the  mines  there, 


HARD  LIFE  IN  TSE  COLONIES.  325 

but  the  one  on  which  he  was  engaged  was  closed 
up  for  want  of  money,  and  he  started,  like  many 
another,  for  California,  with  his  wife  and  two 
children.  At  first  all  went  well,  but  several  of  the 
mines  he  worked  at  went  smash,  his  wife's  health 
failed,  and  every  year  he  had  another  child,  sickly 
or  deformed,  that  dragged  on  a  miserable  existence 
for  a  year  or  two  and  then  died. 

"  I  have  lost  seven,"  said  "  Mercury  Jack  " 
(whose  real  name  was  Mitchell).  "  A  sad  thing  for 
a  man  to  see  them  die  off  one  by  one ;  it  breaks  the 
heart." 

"  And  your  wife  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Dead  too,  she  was  always  sickly.  Molly  got 
her  illness  from  her ;  she  is  our  first  child,  and  is 
now  thirteen  past ;  none  lived  to  be  so  old,  so  I 
think  she'll  do.  The  doctors  have  given  her  a 
power  of  iron  and  hemlock." 

"  Is  there  a  doctor  here  ?  " 

"  Yes,  but  I  won't  have  him  again,  he  don't 
know.  He  said  the  little  maid  couldn't  be  cured ; 
I  say  she  can." 

During  our  talk  the  child  had  lain  quietly 
in  her  father's  arms,  moaning  now  and  again,  but 
not  speaking.  The  room  was  almost  destitute  of 
furniture,  but  there  was  a  good  bed  in  a  corner, 
and  on  the  table  some  white  bread,  a  chicken,  and 
a  bottle  of  wine.  There  went  the  money  which 
Mitchell  procured  by  that  deadly  work  which 
sapped  up  his  life's  blood,  and  made  him  at  forty 
a  decrepit  old  man.  There  and  into  the  capa- 


326  SAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

cious  pockets  of  "  Ophelia  Cox,"  who  traded  on 
such  a  good  opportunity  of  filling  the  six  ever  open 
mouths  of  her  own  olive  branches. 

Whenever  I  had  time  I  went  down  to  the  little 
hut,  and  always  came  away  with  a  feeling  of 
wonder  at  the  man's  devotion  to  the  child  and 
faith  in  her  recovery.  Mitchell  was  a  Methodist, 
like,  I  believe,  many  Cornishmen,  and  was  deeply 
religious,  so  I  hoped  that  when  the  trouble  fell 
upon  him  he  would  find  comfort  in  his  belief  that 
the  poor  child  was  safe,  and  I  did  all  I  could  to 
prepare  him  for  what  was  inevitable — with,  I  fear, 
but  poor  success. 

During  this  time  I  had  gone  on  with  my  work 
of  "  feeding  the  mouths,"  just  like  Ophelia  Cox, 
but  my  companions  dropped  off,  finding  the  work 
too  hard  and  the  pay  too  small,  others  that 
replaced  them  refusing  to  stay,  until  I  was  left 
alone. 

I  went  to  the  office  to  know  what  was  to  be 
done. 

"  Why,  feed  the  mouths  yourself,"  was  the  cool 
reply. 

I  explained — what  they  knew  perfectly  well — 
that  such  a  thing  was  a  simple  impossibility,  as  no 
one  man  could  raise  the  end  of  a  log  by  himself ; 
whereupon  I  was  ordered  "to  git,"  as  they  laconi- 
cally put  it,  meaning  that  my  services  were  no 
longer  required,  and  I  might  go  elsewhere,  to  live 
or  die  as  I  chose. 

Gilbert  would  not  stay  on  without  me,  though 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  327 

he  had  got  into  better  work  and  was  doing  well ; 
so  we  decided  to  leave  when  his  next  week  was  up. 
For  the  few  days  intervening  I  was  at  liberty,  and 
spent  many  hours  with  Mitchell  and  his  child, 
whose  end  was  near  at  hand.  How  I  strove  to  make 
the  poor  father  see  it  !  But  all  in  vain — he  only 
got  angry.  Molly  had  begun  to  recognize  me  by 
this  time,  and  would  (receive  me  with  what  would 
have  been  a  smile  on  any  other  face,  but  on  hers 
was  only  a  frightful  contortion  of  the  muscles  of 
the  mouth. 

One  morning  when  'I  went  down  I  saw  a  great 
change  in  her,  and  by  Mitchell's  sharp  inquiry  as 
to  what  I  was  looking  at,  knew  that  he  had  per- 
ceived it  also. 

"  Please  God,  she  may  die  quietly,"  I  murmured, 
as  I  looked  at  the  poor  child  lying  a  mass  of  ulcers 
and  corroding  sores,  swollen  joints,  and  wasted 
body. 

But  that  mercy  was  denied  the  wretched  father. 
Almost  as  I  spoke  the  death  agony  began,  and  was 
fierce  and  terrible.  How  so  much  strength  could 
exist  in  so  frail  a  body  was  a  marvel,  but  the  poor 
child  writhed  and  tossed  with  convulsive  move- 
ments that  shook  her  from  head  to  foot,  and  open- 
ing some  of  the  ulcers  on  her  face  and  throat, 
deluged  her  with  blood  and  matter. 

"Jesus,  have  mercy!"  cried  Mitchell,  almost 
mad  with  terror  and  grief. 

I  wiped  the  child's  face  and  laid  her  back  on  the 
pillow,  when  there  came  a  struggle ;  she  beat  the 


328  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

air  frantically  with  her  hands,  uttering  hoarse  cries 
of  agony,  while  she  glared  at  us  wildly  from  her 
lidless  eyes.  A  final  struggle,  a  final  cry,  and, 
thank  Grod,  the  little  one  was  dead. 

Shaking  from  head  to  foot,  without  a  dry  thread 
on  me,  I  turned  away  for  a  moment  and  went  to 
the  open  door.  I  was  stifling. 

"Don't  leave  me,"  said  Mitchell,  in  a  hollow 
voice,  and  I  went  back  to  him.  He  was  kneeling 
by  the  bed,  and  was  gazing  at  his  dead  child,  who 
now  presented  a  most  awful  spectacle.  Hastily  I 
drew  the  sheet  over  her  face,  then  pouring  out 
some  wine  into  a  tumbler,  forced  Mitchell  to  drink 
it.  It  revived  him,  and  I  drew  him  out  into  the 
open  air. 

"  She  must  be  buried !"  said  Mitchell,  suddenly, 
in  the  voice  of  a  man  talking  in  his  sleep. 

I  started;  we  were  miles  away  from  any  cemetery, 
and  neither  clergyman,  priest,  nor  minister  lived 
here.  To  get  one  would  involve  a  heavy  expense 
and  loss  of  time.  From  the  nature  of  the  disease, 
and  the  great  heat,  the  funeral  must  be  held  the 
next  morning  at  the  latest. 

I  think  I  have  said  that,  years  before,  I  had 
been  ordained,  and  for  over  twenty  years  was  a 
curate  in  Ireland.  Religious  scruples  had  induced 
me  to  leave  the  Church,  and  I  had  never  since  per- 
formed any  ceremony  whatever  in  connection  with 
the  Church.  Now  I  felt  myself  in  a  difficulty; 
the  child  must  be  buried,  and,  unless  I  took  the 
service,  must  be  buried  without  any. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  329 

Mitchell  seemed  almost  more  broken  down  by 
that  thought  than  any  other,  so  after  a  struggle 
with  myself  I  said  to  him,  "  I  will  read  the  service 
over  Molly,  if  you  like  ;  I  am  a  clergyman." 

The  poor  fellow's  joy  was  so  great  that  I  felt  I 
had  done  the  right  thing.  That  evening  he  and  I, 
with  Gilbert's  help,  dug  the  grave,  not  far  from  the 
hut.  He  would  have  no  coffin  made,  though  we 
offered  to  help  him. 

The  next  morning  at  five  we  went  down  to  him. 
He  had  lain  her  on  the  mattress  of  her  bed  and 
covered  her  with  flowers.  Cox  helped  us  to  carry 
her  and  lay  her  in  the  grave,  where  once  more 
I  gave  out  that  message  of  love  : 

"  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life :  he  that 
believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he 
live." 

Gilbert  and  Cox  then  went  back  to  their  work, 
and  Mitchell  and  I  spent  the  day  in  fencing  the 
grave  around  to  protect  it  from  the  wild  beasts. 
He  seemed  like  a  man  in  a  dream,  and  showed  no 
feeling  whatever  until,  our  work  over,  we  re-entered 
the  hut. 

I  had  told  the  woman  Cox  to  put  out  of  sight 
everything  belonging  to  the  child — she  did,  into 
her  pockets,  as  it  turned  out  afterwards — and  to 
thoroughly  wash  and  clean  the  room.  This  she 
had  done,  and  when  poor  Mitchell  saw  it  in  its 
unfamiliar  state,  and  empty,  he  gave  a  heart- 
broken cry — "  My  little  maid !  T  want  my  little 
maid !  "  and  fled  back  to  the  grave. 


330  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

I  was  afraid  to  leave  him  that  night,  and,  indeed, 
spent  the  remaining  few  days  of  our  time  at  Knox- 
ville  with  him.  His  patient  submission  was  most 
touching  to  witness.  All  his  spare  time — for  I  per- 
suaded him  to  go  to  work,  though  not  in  the 
mercury  chambers  again — he  spent  in  carving  a 
tombstone,  and  making  the  grave  a  very  garden  of 
flowrers.  That  would  henceforth  be  his  one  object 
in  life. 

So  one  morning  Gilbert  and  I  said  goodbye  to 
him,  and  turned  our  backs  on  the  quicksilver 
mines  and  Ophelia  Cox,  who  stood  a  colossal  mass 
of  damp  sorrow — "  Never  had  she  done  for  any  one 
with  greater  pleasure  than  for  us,"  which  was  quite 
easy  to  believe.  The  "poor  mess"  stood  meekly 
by  her  side,  and  the  six  children  of  doubtful 
parentage  rolled  in  the  dirt  and  squabbled  around 
her. 

We  had  decided  to  tramp  it  back  again  as  far  as 
we  could,  for  although  wre  had  money,  we  would 
not  give  those  skunks  a  cent,  added  to  which  our 
open-air  life  on  the  Tarwin  had  made  this  gipsy 
mode  of  travelling  a  pleasant  and  healthy  one,  far 
more  to  our  taste  than  being  boxed  up  in  a  coach 
with  very  indifferent  companions. 

On  the  evening  of  our  first  day's  journey,  as  we 
prepared  to  bivouac  under  a  large  tree,  I  saw  a 
curious  figure  coming  along  in  a  sneaking  sort  of 
way,  and  reaching  us,  stood  right  in  front  of  me, 
gazing  not  at  us,  but  at  the  food  that  we  had  spread 
out  before  us. 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  331 

It  was  a  boy  of  some  thirteen  or  fifteen  years, 
with  the  face  of  a  beautiful  girl.  His  clothes  were 
a  mass  of  rags  and  tatters,  it  being  really  a  marvel 
how  he  kept  them  on  his  limbs.  A  man's  coat,  oi 
course  miles  too  big  for  him,  reached  to  his  heels, 
and  gave  him  at  a  distance  the  appearance  of  a 
dwarf. 

"  How  did  you  come  here,  and  what  do  you 
want?"  I  asked,  for  we  were  some  twenty  miles 
and  more  from  any  habitation. 

"  Want  something  to  eat,"  he  answered,  replying 
only  to  my  last  question. 

"But  how  did  you  come  here?  Where's  youi 
father?" 

"  Dunno  !  " 

"  Or  your  mother?  " 

"  Never  had  none." 

Though  I  somehow  doubted  that  last  statement, 
still  I  did  not  insist,  but,  giving  him  a  great  piece 
of  bread  and  meat,  told  him  to  sit  down. 

He  did  so,  and  ate  away  calmly,  his  lovely  eyes 
searching  first  Gilbert's  face  and  then  mine  with  a 
wistful,  pleading  look  in  them  that  quite  won  my 
heart.  Not  so  Gilbert ;  he  seemed  to  take  a 
violent  and,  as  I  thought,  unjust  dislike  to  the 
boy,  and  spoke  so  harshly  that  I  was  not 
astonished  when  the  little  fellow's  eyes  filled  with 
tears,  and  he  turned  away  as  if  to  leave  us. 

"  How  can  you  be  so  cross  !  "  I  cried,  indig- 
nantly ;  "  you  have  driven  him  away." 

"  No  fear,"  said  Gilbert,  with  a  sort  of  suppressed 


332  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

irritation  that  I  could  not  understand,  and  made 
me  fear  another  attack  of  illness,  though  since  Dr. 
Fernnoh's  care  he  had  seemed  quite  cured. 

I  called  the  boy  back  and  tried  to  get  from  him 
where  he  came  from  and  what  he  was  doing  out 
here  alone,  but  he  appeared  unable  to  give  any 
account  of  himself. 

II  The  poor  child  is  an  idiot,"  I  said;  "  what  on 
earth  are  we  to  do  with  him  ?  " 

"  You  had  better  adopt  him,  as  you  seem  so  fond 
of  him,"  answered  Gilbert,  savagely ;  "  but  you'll 
choose  between  him  and  me." 

I  stared  at  him  in  astonishment ;  the  boy,  having 
finished  eating,  stood  watching  us  with  pleading 
eyes. 

"  We  had  better  sleep  on  it,"  I  said  ;  "  to-morrow, 
if  you  are  in  the  same  mind,  we  might  take  him 
back  to  Knoxville,  for  I  suppose  he  must  have  come 
from  there,  or  take  him  on  to  Napa ;  there's  sure 
to  be  some  Home  or  other  in  a  big  town." 

So  having  replenished  the  fire,  and  returned  the 
remainder  of  our  supper  to  the  wallets  which  we 
placed  by  our  side,  we  lay  down  and  were  soon  fast 
asleep. 

At  daybreak  the  next  morning  I  woke  and  looked 
round  for  the  boy.  He  was  gone,  and  on  further 
investigation  my  wallet  containing  some  food,  a 
change  of  linen,  and  some  money — luckily  not  all — 
was  gone  too  !  I  woke  Gilbert  and  told  him  what 
had  happened. 

He   burst   out   laughing.     "  So   much  for  your 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  333 

adopted  son.  Far  from  being  an  idiot,  he  has  shown 
himself  sharper  than  either  of  us." 

"  But  how  could  he  get  here,  such  a  distance  from 
any  town,  quite  alone  ?  " 

"  Who  says  he's  quite  alone  ?  Most  likely  he's 
one  of  a  party  of  thieves  who  followed  us.  We  may 
think  ourselves  lucky  that  we  were  not  murdered." 

That  surmise  of  Gilbert's  must  have  been  the 
correct  one,  for  as  we  journeyed  on  we  came  across 
my  little  volume  of  Tacitus  that  had  evidently  been 
thrown  away  as  useless,  and  the  trodden-down  grass 
near  it  showed  that  several  people  had  encamped 
there.  Somewhat  crestfallen,  and  exceedingly  dis- 
gusted at  having  been  so  thoroughly  done  by  a 
mere  child  who  had  feigned  idiotcy  to  avoid  the 
difficulties  of  talking,  I  pocketed  my  Tacitus,  and 
we  went  on  our  way  in  silence. 

"  You  might  have  warned  me,"  I  grumbled  at 
last,  "  for  from  your  manner  you  evidently  had 
some  suspicion." 

"I  thought  he  was  shamming  certainly,  but  it 
wasn't  that  that  made  me  so  cross.  The  little 
wretch  had  a  face  that  reminded  me  of  Curly,  and 
I  could  not  bear  it." 

I  knew  the  story  of  poor  Curly,  and  could  quite 
understand  the  effect  the  resemblance  had  upon 
him. 

In  due  time,  without  further  incident  or  adventure, 
we  again  entered  the  "  Golden  City."  A  road  was 
being  made  at  the  Lime  Point  Government  Works  : 
we  applied,  and  got  taken  on  at  once.  I  forget  how 


334  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

many  hundred  men  were  working  on  it,  but  was  told 
that  nine- tenths  of  them  were  gentlemen.  Certain 
it  is  that  all  we  came  across  were  unmistakably  of 
gentle  birth. 

It  was  curious  to  notice  the  different  effects 
adverse  circumstances  had  upon  the  different 
characters.  Some  were  reckless  and  devil-me-care  ; 
others  morose  and  sullen ;  some  again  viewing  their 
fate  with  philosophical  indifference  ;  others  with 
poor  CurJy's  bright,  hopeful  belief  in  the  good  time 
coming. 

The  work  here  was  horribly  hard,  pick  and  shovel 
business,  and  very  soon  I  was  obliged  to  give  it  up, 
having  lost  so  much  strength  at  the  quicksilver 
mines.  Gilbert  had  secured  easy  work  on  the 
same  road  as  surveyor's  auxiliary,  so  he  remained 
there,  while  I  sought  other  employment. 

Behold  me  next  as  groom  and  coachman  to  a 
Yankee  gentleman  at  San  Rafeel ;  wages  $10  a 
month.  He  was  a  kind-hearted,  good  man,  with 
whom  I  was  very  comfortable.  We  used  to  have 
long  talks  about  the  Old  Country,  which  he  had 
only  visited  once,  but  for  which  he  had  a  strong 
affection  and  passionate  admiration. 

"You  are  such  aristocrats,"  he  said  one  day, 
adding  with  a  sigh,  "  You  have  such  a  long  line  of 
ancestors." 

"  A  very  nice  thing,  I  allow,  if  the  descendants 
have  money  enough  to  keep  up  the  old  prestige," 
I  answered,  "  otherwise  it  is  but  another  suffering 
added  to  many." 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  335 

"  I  don't  see  how,"  replied  Mr.  Homer,  twisting 
a  button  of  his  coat  round  and  round,  which 
was  a  trick  of  his  when  talking  on  anything  that 
interested  him.  I  have  known  him  go  home  with 
not  a  button  left  on  either  coat  or  waistcoat,  as 
was  the  case  on  the  day  this  conversation  took  place. 

"  Simply  because,  although  a  gentleman  can  bear 
misfortune  and  starvation  with  more  or  less  patience 
and  fortitude,  he  cannot  bear  without  pain  and 
disgust  the  forced  companionship  with  the  low, 
uneducated,  and  degraded  class  of  men  that  his 
poverty  throws  him  among." 

"  Yes,  I  can  quite  understand  that,  though  perhaps 
you  will  say  that  I  can  know  nothing  about  it.  I 
began  life  as  a  newspaper  boy,  and  my  father  kept 
a  small  tripe-shop." 

"  The  nobly  born  are  not  the  only  noble,"  I 
quoted.  ' '  I  have  myself  known  men  whose  pedigree 
was  lost  in  the  mist  of  past  ages,  guilty  of  low  and 
dishonourable  actions  that  would  put  an  honest 
coalheaver  to  the  blush."  It  did  not  strike  me  at 
the  time  how  comical  it  was  master  and  man  talking 
so  together. 

Many  weeks  passed  by ;  Gilbert  and  I  had  the 
same  lodgings,  and  met  every  evening.  We  began 
to  put  a  little  money  by,  and  felt  getting  on  in  the 
world,  when  one  evening  on  returning  I  found 
Gilbert  feverish  and  ill.  His  old  enemy  had  over- 
taken him  again.  The  day  had  been  very  hot,  and 
he  had  passed  it  measuring  the  road  under  a  blazing 
sun, 


336  HABD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

I  left  my  "situation"  to  nurse  him,  bidding 
goodbye  to  Mr.  Horner  with  a  regret  that  was 
mutual ;  he  left  San  Francisco  just  at  that  time  to 
go  and  live  with  a  married  daughter. 

Thanks  probably  to  old  Dr.  Fernnoh,  Gilbert  was 
neither  ill  so  long  nor  so  seriously  as  the  last  time, 
but  on  his  recovery  we  did  not  think  it  advisable 
for  him  to  continue  the  same  work,  as  it  exposed 
him  to  the  heat  of  the  sun. 

A  fellow-lodger  mentioned  that  there  was  a 
berth  vacant  on  board  a  man-of-war  then  in  the 
docks  for  repairs ;  he  had  a  brother  on  board,  and 
advised  Gilbert  to  try  for  it. 

Bather  reluctantly  he  went,  hoping  he  would  not 
be  accepted — so  secretly  did  I,  but  he  was.  The 
doctor  who  examined  him  passed  him  at  once,  and 
he  had  his  credentials  proving  him  to  be  a  lieu- 
tenant in  seamanship. 

Very  gloomily  we  took  this  piece  of  good  luck, 
Gilbert  at  first  absolutely  refusing  to  accept  the 
offer ;  but  I  persuaded  him  to  do  so,  though  my 
heart  was  very  sad  at  the  thought  of  the  separation 
after  so  many  years'  close  friendship  ;  but  it  seemed 
to  me  wrong  to  refuse  such  a  chance.  I  tried  to 
get  employment  on  board,  I  didn't  care  in  what 
capacity,  but  the  ship's  crew  was  complete. 

Gilbert  had  money  enough  to  buy  his  outfit,  and 
I  left  him  one  morning  to  do  it  while  I  went  to 
work  (gardening  this  time),  feeling  thoroughly 
depressed  and  disheartened,  overshadowed  with 
the  thought  of  parting  from  my  only  friend.  When 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  337 

I  returned  in  the  evening  to  the  room  where  we 
lodged  I  found  him  quietly  smoking  a  pipe. 

"  Grot  your  kit  ?  "  I  asked,  in  rather  a  choking 
voice — something  seemed  to  have  got  into  my 
throat. 

"  No,  old  man,  and  what's  more,  I  don't  mean 
to  get  it ;  another  fellow  has  got  the  berth." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  Why  it  was  promised 
to  you." 

"I  gave  it  up  myself.  I  couldn't  bear  the 
thought  of  leaving  you,  Ham ;  we  have  been 
everything  to  each  other  for  years ;  please  God, 
we  will  live  and  die  together." 

And  so  it  was  settled — an  immense  relief  to 
both,  nor  have  either  of  us  ever  regretted  it. 
Instead  of  buying  a  "kit"  Gilbert  added  his 
money  to  what  I  had  saved  when  "  coachman  " 
(I  had  often  been  a  coach-man  in  the  old  days  in 
Ireland,  and  if  I  must  speak  the  truth,  much  prefer 
the  four-legged  animals  to  the  two-legged  ones), 
and  we  purchased  the  interest  in  a  boot-blacking 
saloon  in  Market  Street.  No  great  art  was  re- 
quired in  this  line  of  business,  nor  was  it  a  difficult 
one  to  acquire.  Nevertheless,  although  brain-work 
pays  not,  shoe-blacking  pays  well,  and  rather  to 
our  astonishment  we  made  a  lot  of  money.  True, 
we  worked  hard  for  it,  were  busy  from  "  dawn  to 
twilight  grey"  shining  away  with  might  and  main. 

Some  months  after  we  were  settled  in,  the  block 
of  houses  in  which  our  saloon  was  situated  changed 
owners,  and  our  place  would  have  to  come  down 

23 


338  BAUD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

in  a  couple  of  months;  we  were  greatly  put  out 
about  it,  and  were  wondering  what  it  was  best  to 
do,  when  a  man  told  us  he  was  willing  to  take  the 
place  on  chance,  giving  us  in  exchange  another 
similar  saloon  in  Sacramanto  Street.  This  offer 
we  gladly  accepted,  for  although  it  was  a  much 
smaller  business,  still  it  was  sure,  and  we  had  no 
expenses  connected  with  settling  in. 

So  we  went  on  our  "polishing"  way,  and  by 
strenuous  exertions  built  up  a  good  trade.  Soon 
we  undertook  other  work,  such  as  cleaning  out 
offices,  errands,  &c.,  keeping  a  small  staff  of  boys 
for  the  purpose. 

Next  door  to  us  was  a  drinking  saloon  where  the 
proprietor  gave  a  free  lunch  every  day.  That  meal 
was  well  attended,  and  others  too,  for  the  sprat 
so  sent  out  caught  many  a  whale,  and  it  became 
the  best  lounging  saloon  in  that  part  of  the  town. 
We  reaped  the  benefit  of  being  so  near,  as  many 
of  the  loungers  turned  in  to  us  to  be  "  polished !  " 
David  Levy,  the  proprietor,  was  very  friendly,  and 
—unheard-of  thing — trusted  to  our  honesty,  not 
hesitating  to  leave  us  in  charge  whenever  he 
wanted  to  go  elsewhere. 

At  first  we  slept  in  a  tiny  room  that  was  cut  off 
from  our  business  apartment — hard  work  to  place 
two  beds,  narrow  as  they  were.  Now  and  then 
it  had  to  accommodate  three.  I  remember  on 
one  occasion  Gilbert  had  taken  Levy's  place 
for  him,  and  I  had  spent  a  long  day  of  hard  work 
alone,  so  was  very  glad  when,  evening  coming  on, 


HARD  LIFE  ttf  THE  COLONIES.  339 

I  could  shut  up  for  the  night,  and  dismissing  the 
boys,  had  my  supper,  and,  without  waiting  for 
Gilbert,  went  to  bed. 

I  was  awakened  in  the  midst  of  my  beauty  sleep 
by  hearing  voices  in  the  other  room.  Then  Gilbert 
poked  his  head  in.  "I  say,  Ham,  get  up;  I've 
met  a  fellow  from  Truro/;  you  know,  where  my 
people  live." 

I  grunted. 

"  He's  in  there ;  we  are  going  to  have  a  pipe 
and  a  talk.  Come  along,  he's  from  Truro." 

"  Well,  black  his  boots,  give  him  my  blessing, 
and  send  him  back  to — Truro,"  I  said,  letting  my 
head  sink  down  contentedly  on  my  pillow. 

"Surly  old  bear,"  laughed  Gilbert,  "  I'll  leave 
the  door  open,  so  you  can  hear  if  you  won't  come 
in." 

I  groaned.  I  didn't  want  to  hear.  I  wanted  to 
recover  the  fleeting  moments  of  that  beauty  sleep 
from  which  I  had  been  so  rudely  aroused.  In  vain 
my  efforts,  those  two  voices  sounded  through  the 
thin  partition,  though  I  had  made  a  long  arm  and 
shut  the  door. 

Before  long  I  knew  the  whole  of  that  blessed 
town  situated  somewhere  down  in  the  west  of 
Cornwall  by  heart.  Every  house  did  they  enter, 
and  various  exclamations  broke  from  my  friend 
suitable  to  the  pieces  of  news,  that  this  one  had 
married,  this  one  had  died,  or  this  one  had  done 
worse ;  for  that  little  town  down  in  the  west  of 
Cornwall  did  not  appear  to  be  behind  her  more 


340  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

important  sisters  in  the  matter  of  morals,  or  want 
of  morals.  I  dozed  off,  and  was  awakened  by  a 
loud  "  By  Jove  !  you  don't  say  so  !  "  from  Gilbert, 
then  chatter,  chatter.  Talk  about  magpies  or 
women  !  In  desperation  I  sprang  out  of  bed, 
pulled  open  the  door,  and  appeared  before  them. 

"  That's  right,  old  fellow,  come  along  in,"  cried 
my  friend,  adding  insult  to  injury.  "  Here,  take 
a  pipe.  This  is  Mr.  T from  Truro." 

I  acknowledged  the  brief  introduction  as  grace- 
fully as  I  could  under  the  circumstances,  but  was 
not  astonished  as  I  dived  back  into  the  bedroom 

to  put  on  some  clothes  to  catch  Mr.  T from 

Truro  in  the  act  of  putting  his  finger  to  his  fore- 
head inquiringly,  and  nod  his  head  in  my  direction. 

Again,  as  I  appeared,  "By  Jove!  you  don't  say 
so!"  burst  from  Gilbert.  "  Just  fancy,  Ham " 

"  I've  heard  it  all,"  I  interrupted  quickly.  "  I  can 
tell  you  everything  about  your  confounded  town, 
from  the  one  monument  it  possesses,  that  stands 
like  an  exclamation  point  on  the  top  of  a  street, 
which  street  bears  the  acid  cognomen  of  Lemon, 
to  the  river  that  deposits  gallons  of  liquid  mud 
twice  a  day  into  the  very  midst  of  the  town.  I 
could  take  you  up  Pydar  Street  and  on  the  Cross, 
over  to  the  Parade  and  across  Strangeways  Ter- 
race, to  St.  Mary's,  St.  Paul's,  St.  John's,  St. 
George's,  not  forgetting  various  chapels  and 
meeting-houses." 

"  Then  you  know  it  well,"  said  Mr.  T of 

Truro.  "  Were  you  born  there  ?  " 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  841 

"That  were  an  honour  unto  which  I  was  not  born," 
I  answered.  "  All  my  knowledge  of  your  town  is 
from  my  friend  there,  and  a  few  photographs  lately 
sent  him ;  nor  can  I  with  truth  say  that  I  burn 
with  a  desire  to  visit  it.  One  thing  strikes  me  in 
favour  of  the  town — it  seems  a  splendid  place  to 
get  away  from,  every  facility  being  afforded  for  that 
laudable  act." 

Mr.  T of  Truro  looked  puzzled,  and  no 

wonder.  Should  any  Truronians  ever  read  these 
pages  I  can  only  make  the  same  excuse  to  them 
that  I  made  to  him.  I  was  tired,  I  wanted  to 
sleep,  and  being  disturbed  by  a  duet  that  went  on 
into  the  small  hours  of  night,  conceived  a  violent 
dislike  to  Truro,  a  small  town  in  the  west  of  Corn- 
wall, noted,  as  I  read  in  a  certain  dictionary,  for 
the  pride  and  poverty  of  its  inhabitants.  You  can 
only  pity  my  ignorance  and  despise  me,  which  will 
make  us  quits. 

Mr.  T of  Truro  left  us  the  next  morning, 

nor  have  we  ever  seen  or  heard  of  him  again.  In 
due  course  I  left  off  saying  to  Gilbert  every  time 
I  came  across  him,  "By  Jove  !  you  don't  say  so,!" 

Shortly  after  this  our  business  flourished  so 
much  that  we  took  lodgings  near  at  hand,  and  had 
our  meals  always  at  a  restaurant.  In  'Frisco  the 
shoe-blacking  trade  is  as  much  a  business  as  a 
draper's  or  any  other  storekeeper's,  and  no  one 
is  looked  down  upon  or  despised  for  making  a 
living  how  best  he  can.  Any  one  showing  that 
sort  of  feeling  is  at  once  recognized  as  a  snob,  ancl 


842  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

soon  has  the  starch  taken  out  of  him.  Here  one 
man  is  as  good  as  another  as  long  as  he  acts  on  the 
square  and  makes  money  ;  there  is  no  rotten  pride 
of  caste,  it  is  too  well  known  that  it  is,  alas  ! 
generally  gentlemen  who,  being  uneducated  in  the 
lower  walks  of  life,  find  themselves  out  of  their 
own  country,  obliged  to  do  many  queer  things  in 
order  to  live. 

So  behold  us  now  with  our  saloon  handsomely 
carpeted,  large  mirrors  (for  we  soon  found  out  how 
fond  men  were  of  looking  at  themselves  in  the 
glass — those  mirrors  brought  us  many  a  cus- 
tomer!), grand  black  walnut  armchairs  comfortably 
cushioned  with  velvet,  some  nice  pictures,  and 
a  lounge  or  two.  Added  to  this,  we  took  in  the 
morning  papers  and  the  illustrated  periodicals, 
kept  perfumes  and  flowers,  which  last  sold 
amazingly  well.  This  year  we  cleared  $1,500 
net  profit  over  and  above  our  expenses  of  living, 
board,  and  rent,  yet  we  lived  well,  going  to  the 
theatres  whenever  anything  was  worth  seeing, 
and  haunting  the  concerts. 

Finding  we  were  doing  so  well,  we  ventured 
after  a  time  to  give  up  the  "  shining  line  "  and 
took  a  book  and  stationery  store  in  Stockton 
Street.  Here  we  sold  all  sorts  of  things,  possible 
and  impossible — inks,  from  the  common  black  to 
the  beautiful  carmine  of  Guyot ;  drawing  neces- 
saries of  every  description ;  school  books  and 
school  requisites,  such  as  desks,  slates,  pens,  and 
pencils;  the  chief  daily  papers;  forty  different 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  343 

illustrated  periodicals ;  curious  toys,  cards,  and 
many  other  things  too  numerous  to  mention. 

I  began  to  think  I  had  missed  my  vocation, 
surely  I  had  been  intended  all  along  for  a  shop- 
man in  the  Golden  City,  only  hadn't  the  "  nous  " 
to  find  it  out  until  towards  the  end  of  my  life. 

We  have  taken  in  one  day  $127  for  school 
books  alone  when  the  schools  opened  after  recess. 
Our  average  was  about  $12  a  day.  Then  our 
rent  was  $40  a  month.  Most  of  the  money 
we  made  we  put  into  the  business,  buying  what- 
ever we  thought  would  entice  customers.  We 
sold  great  quantities  of  photographs  of  the  great 
actors  and  actresses,  eminent  men  and  beautiful 
women ;  these  we  always  procured  from  the  best 
artists  in  'Frisco,  Bradley,  and  Eulofhor,  and 
although  we  paid  very  high  for  them  we  found 
they  were  a  good  investment.  We  slept  in  a  room 
at  the  back  of  our  stores — the  best  way  of  pro- 
tecting them  at  night — but  we  took  our  meals  at  a 
restaurant.  About  this  time  I  made  a  great  find. 
I  had  been  without  a  violin  for  years,  but 
now  that  we  were  flourishing  I  thought  I  would 
like  to  get  up  my  music  again,  so  looked  about 
in  the  various  music  shops  for  one  that  would 
be  to  my  taste.  Whether  I  was  fidgety,  or  the 
instruments  I  saw  were  not  good,  at  any  rate  I  let 
the  weeks  go  by  without  being  suited. 

One  evening  I  went  back  to  our  old  lodgings 
that  we  occupied  when  in  the  "  polishing  line," 
as  I  missed  an  old  book  that  was  a  favourite,  and 


844  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

thought  perhaps  I  may  have  left  it  there.  And 
there  I  found  it,  the  landlord  and  his  wife,  old 
people,  having  taken  the  rooms  to  live  in  them- 
selves. 

"I  put  it  up  in  that  cupboard  with  a  lot  more 
rubbish,"  remarked  Mrs.  Spence,  with  unconscious 
contempt.  "  Many  a  lodger  leaves  something,  some 
of  'em  naught  but  a  heap  of  trash,  which  is  all 
I've  got  sometimes  in  the  place  of  money  due." 

"  I  daresay  you  have  had  a  very  varied  experience 
in  your  time,"  I  remarked,  "  and  might  write  an 
interesting  book  on  your  lodgers." 

"Lor,  sir,  that  I  couldn't,  for  I  can't  write  a 
word,  and  it  always  have  seemed  to  me  to  be  one 
of  they  silly,-useless  things  as  never  did  no  good  to 
nobody." 

"  Well,  I  don't  quite  agree  with  you,"  I  answered, 
watching  the  old  woman  somewhat  anxiously,  for 
she  was  perched  up  on  the  top  of  a  step-ladder, 
which,  although  I  held  it  and  was  able  to  steady 
it,  yet  the  wood  was  so  old  and  rotten,  that  I 
feared  it  would  collapse  altogether. 

u  There  it  is,"  she  cried  at  last,  triumphantly, 
handing  me  down  my  precious  little  volume,  which 
she  first  politely  dusted  with  her  apron.  "It  was 
hid  a  bit  under  an  old  fiddle." 

I  pricked  up  my  ears  at  the  word,  having  fiddles 
on  the  brain  just  then,  and  laughingly  asked  her  if 
she  played. 

"No,  no,"  she  replied,  quite  seriously.  "  It  was 
left  by  a  lodger  in  part  payment ;  not  that  it  would 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  345 

pay  a  quarter  of  what  he  owed  me.  But  there, 
you  can't  get  money  out  of  dead  men;  it's  hard 
enough  to  get  it  out  of  living  ones  sometimes." 

"  Would  you  mind  my  seeing  it  ?  "  I  asked, 
though  I  could  not  have  explained  what  motive  or 
feeling  induced  me  to  do  so. 

"  There  it  is ;  but  it  can't  be  no  good  now,  for 
the  strings  is  all  broke.  I  didn't  like  to  burn  it, 
for  I  was  fond  of  the  man,  though  he  was  a  bit 
daft,  poor  soul,  but  harmless  as  a  child,  and  full  of 
trouble.  I've  taken  the  worst  of  the  dust  off,"  and 
she  handed  it  to  me. 

Somehow,  even  before  I  took  it  to  the  window 
to  examine  it,  I  felt  a  tremor  of  excitement  run 
through  me  as  one  on  the  very  verge  of  a  great 
discovery.  My  presentiment  had  not  played  me 
false  ;  there,  under  the  dust,  were  the  magic  words, 
"  Antonius  Stradiuarius  Cremonensis  faciebat, 
1720."  With  a  beating  heart  I  carefully  wiped  it, 
and  passed  my  fingers  over  the  loosened  strings. 
A  plaintive  sound,  like  the  wail  of  a  broken  heart, 
was  the  result. 

Mrs.  Spence  seemed  uneasy,  for  she  said,  "  It 
ain't  no  good ;  it  only  crys  like  a  creetur  in  pain. 
I'm  sure  I  don't  know  why  ever  I  kept  it.  I'll  sell 
it  to  get  rid  of  it ;  the  wood  will  fetch  a  few  cents, 
perhaps." 

A  genuine  violin  of  the  eighteenth  century  to  be 
sold  for  a  few  cents  !  Oh,  Stradiuarius  of  Cremona, 
my  heart  burnt  with  shame  at  this  appalling  igno- 
rance of  thy  great  art ! 


346  HABD  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES. 

"If  you  are  thinking  of  selling  it,"  I  answered, 
"  I  will  buy  it,  for  I  play  the  violin,  and  was  on 
the  look-out  for  one.  Have  you  the  bow  ?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  the  thing  you  scrape  it  with?  " 
asked  worthy  Mrs.  Spence,  and  on  my  answering 
in  the  affirmative,  mounted  once  more  the  rickety 
steps,  and,  after  some  searching  and  fumbling 
among  the  heterogeneous  mass  of  dust-covered 
articles,  produced  the  bow. 

I  tightened  the  strings  as  well  as  I  could,  and 
passed  the  bow  over  them.  Oh,  the  mellow, 
plaintive  sound,  how  sweet  it  was  !  Like  a  miser 
gloating  over  his  gold,  I  examined  my  prize  inch 
by  inch,  held  it  sideways  to  admire  that  beautiful 
curve  in  the  back  that  is  one  of  the  characteristics 
of  all  violins  that  come  from  the  hands  of  Stradi- 
uarius,  at  the  quaint  cutting  of  the  F  holes,  at  the 
time-blackened  wood,  with  a  feeling  of  reverence, 
with  a  joy  that  was  almost  painful.  More  than  a 
hundred  years  had  passed  since  the  cunning  hands 
of  the  great  artist  had  ceased  their  work  for  ever ; 
he  was  gone,  but  the  fruits  of  his  labour  remained 
to  stir  the  hearts  and  raise  the  souls  of  those  to 
whom  the  blessed  gift  of  music  is  given,  a  fore- 
taste, as  it  were,  of  that  other  world  to  which  we 
look  for  the  completion  and  fulfilment  of  our 
greatest  hopes  and  desires. 

I  had  let  my  thoughts  wander  far  away  while  my 
fingers  unconsciously  tapped  the  sounding-board 
of  the  instrument,  every  slight  touch  producing 
soft,  sweet  murmurs,  for  the  very  fibre  of  the  wood 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  347 

was  impregnated  with  music.  Many  may  smile  at 
me  for  this  extravagant  praise  even  of  a  Stradiuarius ; 
enthusiastic  lovers  of  music,  however,  will  under- 
stand and  pardon  me. 

Mrs.  Spence  recalled  me  to  mundane  things  by 
saying  anxiously,  "You  don't  find  it  worth  the 
buying,  though  to  hear  poor  old  Mr.  Tom  talk, 
you'd  think  it  was  as  good  as  a  gold  mine ;  but 
then  he  was  off  his  head  with  trouble  and  that. 
You  shall  have  it  for  a  dollar,  if  you  like,  sir." 

I  smiled  at  the  shrewd  old  woman.  Before  I 
had  spoken  of  buying  it  she  had  thought  to  get  but 
a  few  cents  for  the  wood,  now  she  immediately 
asks  a  dollar.  I,  knowing  the  value  of  the  in- 
strument, feel  that  I  should  offer  more,  so  I 
said: 

"  Mrs.  Spence,  this  violin  is  by  a  very  old  maker, 
and  there  are  many  people  who  would  give  a  good 
deal  of  money  for  it.  I  can't  afford  to  do  that,  but 
I  offer  you  two  dollars  and  a  half  (10s.)  if  you  care 
to  let  me  have  it  for  that  sum." 

"  That  I  will,  sir,  and  thank  you,  too,  for  I 
shouldn't  know  how  to  go  about  getting  it  sold. 
Sometimes  you  gentlemen  think  a  sight  of  things 
as  ain't  of  no  valley." 

From  which  remark  I  understood  that  Mrs. 
Spence  considered  me  in  the  same  state  as  her 
late  lodger,  i.e.,  off  my  head,  and  thought  herself  a 
very  clever  and  lucky  woman  to  get  the  two  dollars 
and  a  half  that  I  paid  her  on  the  spot. 

"I  wish  you  would   tell  me  something   about 


348  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

your  lodger;  I  mean  the  one  who  owned  this  violin. 
I  think  you  said  he  was  dead." 

"Well,  he  killed  hisself,  which  is  the  same 
thing,"  answered  Mrs.  Spence,  settling  herself 
down  for  a  chat,  while  I  took  a  chair  opposite  her 
and  hugged  my  violin  in  my  arms. 

I  will  tell  you  Mr.  Tom's  history  in  my  own 
words,  for  good  Mrs.  Spence  not  only  took  one 
hour  and  three-quarters  over  it,  but  she  added  so 
many  remarks  of  her  own,  that,  although  I  was  a 
victim,  I  don't  wish  my  readers  to  share  the  same 
fate. 

Mr.  Tom,  evidently  a  fictitious  name,  was  an 
Englishman  by  birth,  a  peculiar,  sensitive  man, 
one  of  those  that  Dame  Fortune  seems  to  choose 
now  and  then  as  the  sport  of  her  every  whim,  and 
the  victim  of  her  every  cruel  joke.  The  thirteenth 
son  of  a  rather  poor  rector  in  the  north  of  York- 
shire, he  had  always  been  the  butt  of  his  brothers 
and  sisters,  for  his  prolific  father  was  the  happy 
possessor  of  twenty  children,  of  whom  seven  were 
girls.  This  one,  Amos,  appears  from  the  beginning 
of  his  life  to  carry  out  the  sad  meaning  of  the 
name  bestowed  upon  him — a  burden.  Truly  he 
was,  a  burden  to  all  around  him,  worst  of  all  a 
burden  to  himself.  Misfortune  seemed  to  dog  his 
footsteps.  Did  he  go  to  school,  he  was  sure  to 
meet  with  an  accident;  was  he  going  up  for  an 
exam.,  an  attack  of  illness  would  seize  him  and 
prevent  his  attending. 

Finally  it  seemed  as  though  Fate  was  tired  of 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  349 

dealing  him  bitter  blows.  He  was  employed  as 
engineer  in  the  mines  that  were  situated  in  his 
father's  parish,  and  lodged  with  the  curate,  a  man 
of  low  birth,  which  he  tried  to  hide  by  haughty 
and  supercilious  airs — a  miserable  failure,  for  being 
very  poor,  and  having  seven  children,  he  found  it 
as  much  as  he  could  do  to  get  on. 

Of  course,  before  his  rector's  twenty  encum- 
brances his  seven  looked  small,  still  it  was  no  easy 
matter  to  get  them  all  clothed  and  educated.  His 
wife,  a  good,  honest,  hard-working  woman,  daughter 
of  a  former  landlady,  firmly  believed  that  her  hus- 
band was  a  grand  gentleman  and  a  fine  fellow, 
simply  because  he  said  so.  The  eldest  child,  a 
girl,  just  grown  up  when  Amos  went  there  to  live, 
appeared  to  be  a  modest,  charming  young  creature, 
with  whom  he  fell  in  love  at  once. 

It  was  just  at  this  time  in  his  life  that  he  was 
sent  by  the  head  of  the  mines  over  to  Liguria,  in 
Italy,  to  the  iron  mines  there.  He  left  England, 
not  daring  to  speak  of  his  love  to  the  curate's 
daughter,  seeing  how  unsettled  were  his  prospects, 
still  he  doubtless  said  enough  to  her  to  make 
her  understand  what  were  his  feelings  towards 
her. 

I  had  forgotten  to  say  that  he  had  early  shown 
a  great  love  for  music,  but  that  being  considered  a 
useless  profession,  as  far  as  bringing  in  money  was 
concerned,  he  was  commanded  to  give  it  up  and 
turn  his  thoughts  to  engineering.  With  the  patient 
submission  which  seemed  to  be  his  most  striking 


860  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

characteristic  he  did  so,  but  once  in  Italy  his  fate 
threw  him  among  musical  people.  A  young  girl, 
daughter  of  the  first  violinist  in  the  Opera  House 
at  Liguria,  herself  a  violinist,  fell  in  love  with  the 
Englishman. 

Amos  either  did  not  or  would  not  see  it,  and 
with  unconscious  cruelty  took  Florence  C —  —  into 
his  confidence,  and  was  wont  to  pour  out  his  love 
for  the  curate's  daughter  at  every  possible  oppor- 
tunity. He  remained  there  five  years,  and  on 
leaving  to  return  to  Yorkshire  threw  away  his  one 
chance  of  happiness  in  life. 

It  is  said  that  there  comes  to  every  one  in  our 
sojourn  here  on  earth  one  opportunity  of  happiness. 
How  many  of  us  miss  that  chance,  and,  failing  it, 
get  shipwrecked  on  life's  stormy  sea  ! 

Poor  Amos  was  one  of  the  unlucky  ones,  and 
drew  but  blanks  in  the  lottery  of  life.  He  left 
Italy  and  the  girl  who  loved  him  with  singleness 
of  heart  to  give  all  his  affection  to  a  worthless 
woman. 

The  curate's  eldest  daughter,  modest  and  simple 
in  appearance,  was  a  true  child  of  her  father,  and 
her  haughty,  overbearing  temper  kept  from  her 
several  suitors  who  would  otherwise  have  offered. 
So  at  twenty-four  she  found  herself  still  unsought, 
although  three  of  her  younger  sisters  had  already 
flitted  from  the  parent  nest. 

When  Amos  returned  in  a  fairly  good  position, 
and  showed  unmistakable  signs  that  he  had  not 
changed,  she  thought  it  worth  her  while  to  play 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  351 

the  amiable,  and  when  he  asked  her,  which  he  did 
as  soon  as  possible,  to  accept  him,  giving  him  to 
understand,  however,  that  she  only  did  it  because 
she  really  loved  him,  as  two  other  wealthy  aspirants 
to  her  hand  were  sighing  in  vain. 

The  marriage  turned  out  a  very  unhappy  one, 
and  when  money  difficulties  came,  Mrs.  Amos 
showed  herself  in  her  true  character,  and  made  life 
intolerable  to  him.  The  Yorkshire  mines  failing, 
they  went  to  California,  but  things  only  went  from 
bad  to  worse. 

I  forgot  to  mention  that  soon  after  his  marriage 
he  received  a  letter  and  a  violin,  a  Stradiuarius, 

from  Florence  C .  The  poor  girl  in  dying  had 

sent  her  greatest  treasure  to  the  only  man  she  had 
ever  loved,  and  he,  already  finding  out  his  wife's 
real  character,  must  often  have  wished  his  eyes 
had  been  open  and  he  could  have  distinguished  the 
true  from  the  false. 

After  years  of  struggling  and  misery  and  sorrow, 
during  which  his  wife  would  leave  him  sometimes 
for  months  together,  saying  she  was  in  some  situa- 
tion or  other,  poor  Amos,  broken  down  in  health, 
and  overcome  with  sorrow,  took  to  drinking  to 
drown  his  troubles.  Several  children  had  been 
bom  to  them,  but  all  died  in  infancy,  with  the 
exception  of  one  girl,  a  handsome  creature  and  her 
father's  joy  and  pride.  For  her  sake  he  worked 
like  a  black,  hardly  eating  enough  to  keep  him 
from  starvation,  that  she  might  have  luxuries  to 
eat  and  dainty  clothes  to  wear.  He  gave  violin 


352  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

lessons  for  sixpence  an  hour,  and  sometimes  got 
hired  to  play  dance  music  at  some  low  music- 
halls. 

It  was  one  evening  in  one  of  these  places  that  he 
saw  his  wife  enter,  grandly  dressed,  in  company 
with  a  well-known  gentleman,  notorious  for  his 
bad  life.  Wild  with  rage  and  shame,  he  accosted 
her,  when  the  gentleman  ordered  him  to  be  turned 
out  as  a  madman.  Amos  replied  by  striking  him 
on  the  face,  whereupon  a  fight  ensued,  and  Amos 
was  ejected  wounded  and  bleeding,  some  one  fling- 
ing his  violin  after  him. 

For  months  he  and  his  daughter  had  been  lodg- 
ing with  Mrs.  Spence,  sometimes  paying,  some- 
times not.  When  he  managed  to  crawl  back  to 
his  room  and  say  what  had  happened,  the  girl, 
furious  with  him,  told  him  brutally  that  she  knew 
the  life  her  mother  led,  and  meant  to  do  the  same 
herself,  as  she  was  sick  of  the  misery  and  poverty, 
and  left  the  house  there  and  then.  Amos  was  laid 
down  with  brain  fever,  during  which  Mrs.  Spence 
nursed  him,  from  sheer  pity.  He  pulled  through, 
but  was  an  aged,  broken-down  man,  weakened 
alike  in  mind  and  body.  All  day  long  he  paced 
the  street  searching  for  his  daughter,  playing  airs 
on  his  violin  that  she  was  accustomed  to  hear. 
Many  passers-by  threw  him  pence,  which  he 
always  faithfully  brought  to  his  landlady. 

So  time  went  on ;  she  had  not  the  heart  to  turn 
him  out,  for  what  with  the  effects  of  the  fever,  and 
drink  and  exposure  in  all  weathers  in  the  endless 


HAED  LIFE  IN  TEE  COLONIES.  353 

search  for  his  daughter,  he  became  more  and  more 
imbecile. 

One  morning  he  came  in  unexpectedly,  looking 
wild.  "  I've  seen  her,"  he  said;  "  but  she  denied 
being  my  child,  she  ordered  her  servants  to  drive 
me  away."  Mrs.  Spence  could  get  nothing  else 
from  him ;  he  sat  down,  took  his  violin  on  his 
knees,  wiped  it,  and  handed  it  to  her,  saying,  in 
quite  a  natural  tone  of  voice,  "  I  can't  pay  you 
what  I  owe  you,  but  I  leave  you  this,  it  will  more 
than  repay  you." 

Then  he  went  out,  walked  quietly  to  a  deserted 
part  of  the  wharf,  and  drowned  himself.  Find- 
ing he  did  not  return,  Mrs.  Spence  made  in- 
quiries, saw  a  description  of  a  body  found  that 
made  her  think  it  was  his ;  finding  that  to  be 
the  case,  old  Spence  and  she  identified  him,  and 
followed  him,  the  only  mourners  to  his  pauper's 
grave. 

Such  is  the  outline  of  the  story  Mrs.  Spence  told 
me,  and  I  looked  at  the  violin  with  even  greater  in- 
terest. With  that  in  my  hands  and  my  recovered  book 
in  my  pocket,  I  returned  home.  Gilbert  was  almost 
as  much  interested  as  I  was,  and  we  sat  up  late 
that  night  talking  over  the  sad  story  I  had  heard. 
There  were  some  people,  then,  more  unlucky  and 
with  harder  fates  than  ours — indeed,  we  now  seemed 
to  be  at  the  end  of  our  troubles. 

At  this  time  every  one  in  'Frisco  went  mad  on 
stock  gambling.  The  papers  were  full  of  nothing 
else,  and  no  two  men  could  get  together  for  five 

24 


354  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

minutes  without  entering  into  a  warm  discussion 
on  the  topic. 

I  ought  not  to  say  much,  for,  bitten  by  the  pre- 
vailing epidemic,  we  ventured  some  money,  like 
every  one  else.  More  cautious  than  most,  however, 
we  did  not  risk  a  heavy  sum,  nor  did  we  even  lose 
all  that  we  did  put  in.  Frightened  by  the  endless 
stories  of  ruin,  we  sold  out  at  a  great  loss  before 
things  came  to  the  worst,  and  were  by  far  not  so 
unfortunate  as  many  of  our  acquaintances. 

A  terrible  time  followed  for  San  Francisco  — 
indeed,  for  the  whole  of  California,  and  extended 
even  to  other  countries.  Thousands  of  families 
were  completely  ruined,  for  every  one  seemed 
infected  with  the  fever  of  gambling  that  raged 
alike  among  rich  and  poor. 

The  great  stockbrokers  gobbled  up  all  the  small 
fry.  It  was  one  giant  swindle,  followed  by  all 
sorts  of  evils — ruin,  despair,  and  endless  suicides. 

For  many  weeks  the  whole  country  was  panic- 
struck,  and  painful  tragedies  were  of  daily  occur- 
rence. Here  the  head  of  a  family,  having  lost 
every  cent  he  possessed,  would  blow  his  brains 
out ;  there  the  head  of  a  bank,  gone  smash,  would 
do  the  same,  or  would  be  murdered  by  some  infu- 
riated creditor  who  had  been  ruined. 

Nearly  every  morning,  and  at  intervals  through 
the  day,  we  were  startled  by  pistol-shots  quite 
near  our  office,  the  great  B.  and  S.  E.  (or  for  fear 
you  may  not  understand  these  mysterious  letters — 
Book  and  Stationer's  Emporium),  and  would  as 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  355 

frequently  see  the  bodies  of  the  shot  ones  carried 
past,  some  to  the  Morgue,  some  to  .their  private 
dwellings.  So  common  were  these  occurrences 
that  no  one  was  much  disturbed  or  troubled  by 
them,  and  the  police  took  as  little  notice  as  any  one 
else ;  the  man  was  dead,  nothing  could  bring  him 
back  to  life,  even  if  any  one  desired  his  resuscita- 
tion, which  was  doubtful,  and  any  looking  into  the 
matter  involved  loss  of  time  and  money,  so  what 
was  the  good,  particularly  as  these  little  events 
followed  each  other  with  considerable  rapidity  ? 

The  truth  is  that,  as  far  as  I  could  learn,  no  one 
was  ever  shot  in  the  streets  of  'Frisco  who  did 
not  richly  deserve  his  fate.  Every  bullet  has  its 
billet,  and  although  nervous  people  might  think  it 
dangerous  to  walk  the  streets  at  that  time  for  fear 
of  meeting  a  stray  bullet,  they  need  not  have  dis- 
turbed themselves,  for  all  well-disposed  persons 
were,  on  the  whole,  as  safe  as  they  would  be  in 
London  or  any  other  great  city. 

The  panic  over,  things  settled  down  more  or 
less  in  the  usual  way,  and  life  went  on  with  its 
daily  routine.  The  gaps  made  by  death  or  de- 
parture were  quickly  filled  up,  and  the  city 
resumed  its  normal  aspect. 

Our  business  had  become  a  really  prosperous 
affair,  and  the  time  came  when,  as  once  before, 
we  found  ourselves  the  possessors  of  sufficient 
funds  to  enable  us  to  have  our  heart's  desire,  i.e., 
to  leave  city  life,  with  its  uncongenial  work,  its 
temptations  to  gamble,  and  its  tips  and  downs, 


356  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

and  live  once  more  the  free,  healthy  life  in  the 
country. 

We  longed  to  have  if  only  a  two-roomed  hut  in 
the  forest,  where  among  the  trees  and  flowers  and 
the  animals  we  could  he  independent  of  men,  and 
quietly  and  peacefully  pass  our  days — Lust  in 
Rust.  Gilbert  heard  of  a  small  ranche  on  Mark 
West  Creek,  some  eight  miles  from  Santa  Eosa. 
It  consisted  of  about  thirty  acres  of  land,  with 
vineyard  and  orchard,  the  latter  well  stocked  with 
fruit-trees ;  while  from  the  creek  which  ran  past 
the  house  we  could  procure  fish  in  plenty. 

So  one  day  we  left  the  "Emporium"  in  the 
hands  of  an  assistant  and  went  off  to  Mark  West 
Creek  to  see  for  ourselves.  It  was  a  lovely  day, 
and  we  were  both  in  high  spirits,  and  felt  more 
like  a  couple  of  schoolboys  out  on  a  spree  than 
two  staid,  serious  men. 

The  proprietor  of  the  ranche  in  question  was  to 
meet  us  at  the  place,  and  as  we  drove  up,  having 
hired  a  sort  of  dog-cart  at  Santa  Eosa,  we  beheld 
him  sitting  like  another  Job  under  a  fig-tree. 

Though  he  saw  us  entering  the  opening  of  the 
fence  he  did  not  condescend  to  move  towards  us, 
or  even  to  get  up,  but  contented  himself  with 
sitting  a  little  more  upright,  and,  extending  a 
couple  of  fingers  of  his  right  hand,  which  mark  of 
politeness  neither  Gilbert  nor  I  pretended  to  see. 

"  Almighty  proud,  you  bet,"  observed  Mr. 
Euthven  ;  but  to  whom  the  remark  was  addressed 
it  would  be  difficult  to  say,  unless  to  a  small  sandy- 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  357 

coloured  terrier  that  bolt  upright  between  his  feet 
presented  a  striking  personal  resemblance  to  his 
master. 

"  This  ranche  belongs  to  you,  I  believe  ?  "  began 
Gilbert. 

Mr.  Ruthven,  chary  of  his  words,  nodded. 

"Well,"  cried  Gilbert,  getting  impatient,  "my 
friend  and  I  have  come  out  by  appointment  to  see 
the  place,  which  we  understand  is  to  be  sold.  Are 
you  Mr.  Kuthven?  " 

"  You  bet,"  was  the  reply,  accompanied  with  a 
look  as  much  as  to  say,  "  I  wouldn't  advise  any 
one  to  play  with  my  name." 

"Then,  Mr.  Ruthven,  will  you  take  the  trouble 
to  show  us  over  the  ranche,  as  we  have  come  here 
for  that  purpose  by  your  own  desire  ?  " 

"  Have  a  drink  first,"  said  our  strange  host, 
rising  to  his  feet,  and  pitching  a  soft-felt  hat  on 
his  head,  that  had  been  lying  on  the  ground  by  his 
side,  shook  it  into  its  place.  He  was  the  tallest 
man  I  think  I  have  ever  seen,  thin  too,  and  with 
the  true  Yankee  type  of  features.  His  small,  grey 
eyes  twinkled  with  a  mixture  of  fun  and  cunning. 
He  walked  as  though  he  were  throwing  his  feet 
before  him,  and  had  a  trick  of  suddenly  jerking  his 
head  on  one  side,  in  which  he  was  always  imme- 
diately imitated  by  his  dog,  Dollar  by  name. 

Mr.  Ruthven  and  his  dog  led  the  way  into  the 
house;  a  rather  poor  affair  it  looked,  although 
there  were  four  rooms  in  it,  all  more  or  less  out  of 
order  and  nearly  destitute  of  furniture ;  that,  of 


858  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

course,   did  not  matter,  as  we  should  bring  our 
own. 

In  one  of  the  downstair  rooms  was  a  large  table 
on  which  was  laid  out  a  sort  of  lunch,  more  for  the 
purpose  of  satisfying  hunger  than  to  pander  to  the 
taste  of  an  epicure.  There  was  no  cloth,  which 
after  all  is  not  a  necessity  in  the  bush,  but  the  huge 
lump  of  cold  beef  might  have  been  placed  on  a  dish 
instead  of  right  down  on  the  bare  and  not  over 
clean  table  ;  four  plates  more  or  less  broken  and 
cracked,  and  a  knife  or  two,  thrown  pell-mell  among 
spoons  and  forks,  which  latter  were  of  pewter  and 
very  dirty,  completed  the  chattels  on  the  table.  I 
forgot  a  large  loaf  of  bread  and  two  quarts  of  ale. 

Our  host  motioned  us  to  the  only  two  seats  the 
room  possessed,  seating  himself  on  a  block  of  wood 
that  he  rolled  in  for  the  purpose.  Dollar  sat  on  the 
table  by  his  master's  elbow,  and  when  that  worthy 
put  too  large  a  piece  of  meat  in  his  mouth,  saga- 
ciously bit  off  the  end  that  protruded  from  between 
his  teeth. 

"Help  yourselves,"  said  Mr.  Ruthven,  pushing 
the  meat  across  the  table  with  his  bare  hand,  and 
pouring  out  some  ale  in  large  glass  pots,  with 
handles  and  covers — the  German  beer  glass — raised 
his  to  his  lips,  wished  us  good  luck,  and  drained  it 
in  one  gulp.  That  ale  was  certainly  good,  the  best 
I  have  ever  tasted  ;  for  the  rest  I  will  say  nothing, 
except  that  we  made  a  good  supper  when  we  got 
back  to  'Frisco  that  night  ! 

This  feast  over,  Mr.  Euthven's  tongue  being  a 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  359 

little  untied,  he  proceeded  to  take  us  over  the  ranche, 
which  really  seemed  to  be  all  that  was  promised  in 
the  way  of  vineyard,  orchard,  and  fishing.  Of  course 
it  was  small,  and  very  much  out  of  order,  having 
only  been  lived  on  now  and  then  for  a  few  months 
at  a  time,  and  our  host,  having  invested  in  a  larger 
concern  on  the  other  side  of  Santa  Rosa,  was  anxious 
to  part  with  this  one.  Not  that  he  let  his  anxiety 
be  seen — on  the  contrary,  it  was  his  very  indifference 
of  manner  that  made  us  suspect  that  he  would  be 
glad  to  get  rid  of  it. 

We  thoroughly  examined  everything,  Mr.  Euth- 
ven  honestly  pointing  out  various  defects,  such  as 
bad  fencing,  rotten  vines,  some  dead  fruit-trees, 
and  so  on,  flinging  his  feet  before  him  and  jerking 
his  head,  which  latter  movement  Dollar  repeated 
with  unfailing  fidelity. 

'"Cute  little  brute  that  seems  to  be,"  I  remarked, 
hoping  to  hide  an  irrepressible  smile  that  the  above- 
mentioned  movement  on  the  part  of  man  and  dog 
had  forced  from  me. 

"You  bet  he's  the  'cutest  terrier  in  Sonoma  by 
a  long  shot,"  said  Dollar's  master,  becoming 
eloquent ;  "I  wouldn't  take  fifty  dollars  for  him — 
no,  nor  a  hundred." 

"What  made  you  give  him  that  queer  name?  " 
asked  Gilbert,  puffing  some  tobacco  smoke  into  the 
dog's  face,  who  seemed  to  like  it,  opening  his  mouth 
and  breathing  in  the  fumes  of  the  fragrant  weed 
with  evident  relish. 

"  Wall,  he  gave  it  to  himself — leastways  he  took 


360  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.. 

it,"  replied  Mr.  Ruthven.  "  It's  seven  years  ago 
now  I  was  walking  down  one  of  the  back  streets  in 
'Frisco,  and  came  along  a  lot  of  lads  who  were 
tormenting  the  poor  little  brute,  and  meant  to  kill 
it,  because  he  had  bitten  one  of  them.  I  said  I'd 
take  him ;  they  asked  a  dollar  for  him.  I  told  them 
to  git,  for  no  dollar  should  they  have ;  so  what  with 
cuffing  and  banging  at  them  I  drove  them  off  and 
picked  up  the  dog  and  brought  him  home.  I  thought 
of  calling  him  Snap,  but  he  wouldn't  take  no  notice, 
though  whenever  the  word  dollar  was  mentioned 
he'd  prick  up  his  ears — perhaps  because  he  heard  it 
so  often,"  concluded  Mr.  Ruthven,  naively.  "  He  is 
a  'cute  cuss ;  look  at  him  now,  he  knows  we  are 
talking  about  him,"  and  he  jerked  his  head  in  the 
direction  of  Dollar,  who  immediately  reproduced  the 
movement  with  ludicrous  fidelity. 

On  the  whole  we  were  charmed  with  the  place, 
agreed  to  buy  it,  got  through  all  the  formalities  as 
quickly  as  possible,  and  I  went  down  to  Mark  West 
Creek  to  take  charge  of  the  ranche  until  our  store 
in  Stockton  Street  could  be  disposed  of. 

The  ranche  was  very  prettily  situated,  surrounded 
by  hills  both  high  and  steep,  and  which  were  called 
about  here  mountains.  They  ought  to  be  ashamed 
to  claim  any  such  dignity,  but  "  some  have  honour 
thrust  upon  them." 

Mountains  or  hills,  they  are  exceedingly  beautiful, 
whether  enveloped  in  the  grey,  pink  mists  of  early 
dawn,  or  flooded  with  the  full  force  of  the  golden  light 
of  a  mid-day  sun,  or  tinted  with  the  amber,  crimson, 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  361 

and  purple  glow  of  late  evening ;  abundantly 
wooded,  too,  with  grand,  mighty  trees.  The  fertile 
soil  of  the  valleys  is  most  favourable  to  agriculture, 
for  it  produces  grains  and  fruits  both  of  the 
temperate  and  semi-tropical  zones,  so  we  felt  we 
could  not  have  chosen  a  better  spot  or  one  more 
likely  to  answer  our  purpose  than  this  lovely  valley^ 
on  the  Mark  West  Creek. 

I  found  the  house  a  very  poor  affair,  even  worse 
than  it  had  appeared  on  the  day  we  visited  it.  Mr. 
Kuthven  had  of  course  cleared  away  his  own  things , 
and  the  place  looked  bare  and  dirty  and  desolate. 
But  I  soon  altered  that  with  the  aid  of  a  man  I  hired 
for  the  first  day.  We  thoroughly  cleaned  out  the 
four  rooms,  and  arranged  the  plain  but  solid  furni- 
ture we  had  chosen  for  the  purpose.  The  bedrooms 
were  of  Spartan-like  simplicity.  Small  iron  beds, 
iron  washstands,  a  couple  of  chairs,  and  a  table  was 
all  the  furniture.  Gilbert  had  a  looking-glass — I 
think  it  right  to  mention  this  fact,  for  I  had  not. 

In  the  kitchen  was  a  wide  fireplace  (we  burnt 
wood  chiefly,  of  course),  a  table,  and  four  chairs.  I 
adorned  the  walls  artistically  by  arranging  our  rifles, 
pistols,  and  the  heads  and  tails  of  various  animals 
that  we  had  preserved.  The  fourth  room  was  our 
reception  room  !  In  it  we  had  really  good  furniture, 
a  carpet,  curtains,  and  rugs.  Pictures  hung  on  the 
wall,  and  our  pet  books  in  a  case,  while  my  beloved 
violin  lay  in  a  bran-new  violin  case  I  had  had  made 
for  it. 

All  these  arrangements  I  made  gradually  while 


362  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

living  in  solitary  grandeur,  waiting  for  Gilbert  to 
join  me.  There  was  no  house,  hut,  or  shanty  of  any 
sort  for  miles  near  us,  though  during  the  day  traffic 
was  not  unfrequent,  as  the  road  was  not  far  from  us, 
and  led  into  Santa  Rosa. 

The  first  night  or  two  when  I  was  alone  I  was 
frequently  disturbed  by  strange,  unearthly  noises. 
Now  I  do  not  believe  in  ghosts,  and  have  no 
faith  in  any  spiritualistic  humbug  whatever,  so 
after  looking  into  each  room  and  finding  nothing, 
not  even  a  stray  rat,  I  concluded  that  some  one 
else  was  also  struck  with  the  charm  and  beauty  of 
the  little  ranche,  and  finding  that  only  one  man 
lived  there,  thought  it  a  good  opportunity  to  be- 
come possessor  of  it  gratis  by  knocking  the  said  one 
man  on  the  head,  and  taking  possession  of  the  house, 
which  would  of  course  be  useless  to  the  dead  owner. 
But  two  can  play  that  little  game,  so,  loaded  rifle 
in  hand,  I  waited  on  the  third  night  to  make  a 
corpse,  rather  than  be  made  one. 

Judge  of  my  disgust  when,  after  waiting  hours, 
during  which  I  dozed  off  several  times,  only  to  be 
awakened  by  the  same  mysterious  sounds,  I 
discovered  the  true  cause.  The  old  timbers  of  the 
house,  a  wooden  one,  scorched  by  the  intense  heat 
of  the  autumn  day,  stretched,  and  creaked,  and 
groaned,  while  the  loose  and  broken  shingles  on 
the  roof  clattered  in  the  damp  night  air.  Only 
that  and  nothing  more.  Another  fit  of  the  heroics 
for  nothing,  ex  nihilo  niliilfit. 

But  the  sound  of  the  wind  among  the  trees  gave 


HAED  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  363 

me  an  idea :  I  prepared  an  ^Eolian  harp,  which  I 
placed  in  our  "drawing-room"  window,  taking 
care  that  the  strings  were  very  powerful.  The 
effect  delighted  me ;  each  blast  of  wind  passing  by 
produced  the  sound  of  a  distant  choir  of  music, 
sweetly  mingling  all  the  harmonic  notes,  swelling 
or  diminishing  according  to  the  strength  or  weak- 
ness of  the  wind.  So  we  could  always  have  a 
beautiful  voluntary,  or  involuntary,  if  you  like  it 
better,  by  simply  opening  the  window  and  letting  the 
winds  tell  their  secrets  in  sweet  sounds  through  the 
medium  of  the  J^olian  harp.  Soon  Gilbert  joined 
me ;  he  had  had  a  good  deal  of  worrying  work 
arranging  for  the  sale  of  the  stock,  and  finally  had 
settled  with  two  young  men  in  'Frisco,  who  went 
as  partners  together.  They  took  our  store,  agreeing 
to  pay  us  $20  a  month  until  the  whole  purchase 
money  was  paid  up. 

We  knew  both  men  wTell,  and  they  had  always 
been  strictly  honest,  so  we  began  our  new  life  on 
Mark  West  Creek  with  the  future  smiling  upon  us, 
and  every  prospect  of  doing  well. 

Having  spent  a  day  or  two  in  lazy  enjoyment 
of  our  free  life,  we  set  to  work  in  good  earnest 
putting  things  in  order.  And  no  sinecure  we  found 
it,  for  the  vineyard,  in  particular,  had  been  much 
neglected  and  yielded  badly.  So  we  pruned  it, 
uprooted  the  decayed  or  dying  plants,  and  fenced  it 
all  around,  all  of  which  took  some  time,  but  repaid 
us  well  later  on  for  our  trouble. 

We  next  turned  our  attention  to  the  orchard,  in 


364  HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

which  were  almond,  plum,  pear,  apricot,  apple, 
and  peach  trees  in  plenty.  We  grafted  a  good 
many  young  ones,  and  planted  some  new.  Then 
we  enclosed  a  tolerably  large  piece  of  ground  for 
vegetables,  where,  the  ground  being  so  fertile,  we 
had  little  trouble  beyond  the  planting  and  eating  of 
them. 

In  front  of  the  house  is  a  flower  garden  of  our 
making,  which  by  giving  half  an  hour  every  day  is 
in  beautiful  order.  In  the  centre  bed  stands  a 
maguary,  or  centaury  plant;  around  it  various 
species  of  verbenas,  mignonette,  and  roses  of  every 
sort  and  kind,  perfuming  the  whole  place  with  their 
sweet  odours. 

We  had  been  here  but  a  few  months,  when 
Fortune,  not  yet  content  with  having  battered  us 
about  with  so  many  and  grievous  blows,  dealt 
another  that  well-nigh  crushed  me,  for  it  threatened 
me  with  the  loss  of  my  friend. 

The  two  young  men  who  had  taken  our  store 
paid  very  regularly,  and  we  never  had  the  smallest 
hint  that  things  were  not  flourishing.  But  whether 
they  neglected  their  business,  or  did  not  under- 
stand it,  or  gave  way  to  the  spirit  of  gambling,  I 
know  not ;  one  thing  only  was  sure — we  heard 
suddenly  that  they  had  gone  smash,  sold  the 
business,  and  vanished  with  the  money,  leaving  us 
without  means  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  ranche. 

We  had  been  too  short  a  time  to  have  been  able  to 
reap  any  profit  from  our  work,  and  the  farm  was 
still  in  a  bad  state,  requiring  both  labour  and  money 


HARD  LIFE  IN  THE  COLONIES.  365 

to  put  it  into  anything  like  order  and  make  it  repay 
us.  Also  there  was  a  $1,000  debt  on  it,  which  we 
now  saw  no  chance  of  paying  off.  One  trouble 
follows  another.  The  anxiety  and  worry  occasioned 
by  this  loss  brought  on  one  of  Gilbert's  attacks  of 
fever — the  worst  he  had  ever  had.  I  sent  into 
Santa  Rosa  for  the  most  skilful  physician,  who, 
directly  he  saw  him,  told  me  there  was  no  hope. 

This  happily  was  a  false  diagnosis.  After  a 
struggle,  which  it  is  painful  for  me  to  remember, 
I  brought  Gilbert  round.  And  here  I  will  bring  my 
narrative  to  an  end,  my  life  not  being  sufficiently 
diversified  to  interest  my  readers.  Gilbert  and  I 
are  still  in  California,  and,  I  may  add,  we  are  doing 
well. 


UNWIH  BBOTHEBS, 
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